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presented  to  the 
UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIEGO 

by 

MRS  ETHEL  ROGEHS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/educationas'scienOObainiala 


EDUCATION- 
AS    A    SCIENCE 


BY 

ALEXANDER  BAIN,   LL  D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    LOGIC    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    ABERDEEN 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1897 


Authorized  Edition. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  present  work  I  have  surveyed  the  Teaching  Art,  as 
far  as  possible,  from  a  scientific  point  of  view ;  which 
means,  among  other  things,  that  the  maxims  of  ordinary 
experience  are  tested  and  amended  by  bringing  them 
under  the  best  ascertained  laws  of  the  mind. 

I  have  devoted  one  long  chapter  to  an  account  of  the 
Intellect  and  the  Emotions  in  their  bearings  on  education. 
The  remainder  of  the  work  is  occupied  with  the  several 
topics  more  specially  connected  with  the  subject. 

There  are  certain  terms  and  phrases  that  play  a  lead- 
ing part  in  the  various  discussions  ;  and  to  each  of  these 
I  have  endeavoured  at  the  outset  to  assign  a  precise 
meaning.  They  are — Memory,  Judgment,  Imagination, 
proceeding  from  the  Known  to  the  Unknown,  Analysis 
and  Synthesis,  Object  Lesson,  Information  and  Train- 
ing, doing  One  Thing  Well. 

A  separate  consideration  is  also  bestowed  on  Edu- 
cation Values,  or  an  enquiry  into  the  worth  of  the  various 
subjects  included  in  the  usual  routine  of  instruction ;  the 
largest  amount  of  space  being  given  to  Science. 

Under  the  designation — Sequence  of  Subjects  (Psy- 


vi  PREFACE. 

chological  and  Logical),  a  number  of  important  matters 
are  brought  forward,  it  is  thought,  in  an  advantageous 
way.  In  the  first  place,  we  are  interested  to  know  what 
is  the  order  of  the  unfolding  of  the  faculties,  and  wliat 
influence  that  order  should  have  in  the  arrangement  of 
studies.  Such  is  the  psychological  question.  In  the 
next  place,  there  is  a  sequence  growing  out  of  the  de- 
pendence of  the  subjects  themselves  ;  which  in  most 
cases  is  plain  enough,  but  occasionally  becomes  per- 
plexed by  disguises.  This  I  call  the  logical  or  analytical 
problem  of  education. 

These  preparatory  matters  being  disposed  of,  the 
main  topic — the  Methods  of  Teaching — is  entered  upon. 
After  adverting  to  what  concerns  the  first  elements  of 
Reading,  I  proceed  to  the  delicate  question  of  the  com- 
mencement of  Knowledge  teaching.  It  is  here  that  we 
are  introduced  to  the  Object  Lesson,  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  demands  a  careful  handling ;  there  being 
great  apparent  danger  lest  an  admirable  device  should 
settle  down  into  a  plausible  but  vicious  formality.  The 
latter  part  of  this  chapter  treats  of  the  methods  applic- 
able to  Geography,  History,  and  the  Sciences. 

The  Mother  Tongue  has  a  place  appropriated  to 
itself.  Everything  that  relates  to  it  as  an  acquirement 
— Vocabulary,  Grammar,  the  Higher  Composition,  and 
Literature — is  minutely  canvassed. 

A  chapter  is  assigned  to  an  estimate  of  the  value  of 
I-atin  and  Greek  at  the  present  day.  The  provisional 
arrangement  whereby  the  higher  knowledge  was  for  cen- 
turies made  to  flow  through  two  dead  languages  should 


PREFACE.  Vll 

now  be  considered  as  drawing  to  a  close.  The  ques- 
tion then  arises  whether  any  new  sphere  of  utility 
lias  been  discovered  for  these  languages,  sufficient 
to  reward  the  labour  of  their  acquisition  when  their 
original  purpose  has  ceased.  On  the  assumption  that 
the  present  system  must  sooner  or  later  be  changed,  I 
suggest  what  I  consider  to  be,  in  relation  to  the  higher 
studies,  the  curriculum  of  the  future. 

On  the  wide  subject  of  Moral  Education,  the  plan 
adopted  is  to  bring  into  prominence  the  points  where 
the  teaching  appears  most  ready  to  go  astray.  As 
respects  Religion,  I  have  principally  confined  myself  to 
the  connection  between  it  and  moral  instruction. 

A  short  chapter  on  Art  teaching  endeavours  to  cleat 
away  some  prevailing  misconceptions,  especially  in  the 
relationship  of  Art  and  Morality. 

The  general  strain  of  the  work  is  a  war,  not  so  much 
against  error,  as  against  confusion.  The  methods  of 
education  have  already  made  much  progress ;  and  it 
were  vain  to  look  forward  to  some  single  discovery  that 
could  change  our  whole  system.  Yet  I  believe  that 
improvements  remain  to  be  effected.  I  take  every  oppor- 
tunity of  urging,  that  the  division  of  labour,  in  the  shape 
of  disjoining  incongruous  exercises,  is  a  chief  requisite 
in  any  attempt  to  remodel  the  teaching  art 

Aberdeen  :  Nmsmber  i8,  1878. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
SCOPE   OF  THE  SCIENCE   OF  EDUCATION. 
Wherein  consists  the  scientific  treatment  of  any  art  .         .         . 


PAGE 
I 


DEFINITIONS   OF   EDUCATION. 

The  Prussian  idea — harmonious  development  . 
James  Mill's  definition — too  wide   . 
Usual  divisions  of  education  give  too  much 
The  art  of  health  should  be  excluded 

J.  S.  Mill's  definition 

The  province  of  the  schoolmaster  a  safe  guide  . 
The  final  end— happmess— how  qualified 
The  plastic  power  of  mind  involved 
Psychological  and  Logical  (or  analytic)  branches 
leading  terms  to  be  precisely  fixed 
Combination  of  experience  and  theory     . 
Conduct  of  the  understanding  not  included      . 


CHAPTER   II. 
BEARINGS  OF  PHYSIOLOGY. 


Physical  health  and  its  conditions  assumed 
Physiological  aspect  of  the  plastic  property  of  the  mind 
The  various  bodily  organs  may  be  unequal  in  power 


II 
II 

12 


X  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


The  brain  may  be  nourished  at  the  expense  of  the  other  organs,  and 

vice  versd    ...........  X2 

Intellect  and  emc*.ion  may  compete  for  brain  support        .         .         •  ij 

Memory  or  acquisition  as  brain  growth — its  cost       .         .         .         •  IJ 


CHAPTER   III. 

BEARINGS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY. 
All  parts  of  Psychology  applicable  :  the  Intellect  more  especially      .       15 

DISCRIMINATION. 

The  foundatiou  of  Intellect 16 

Conditions  : — (i)  mental  watchfulness,  (2)  absence  of  undue  excite- 
ment, (3)  interest,  (4)  juxtaposition    .         .         .         .         .         •  i? 
Examples  of  discrimination     .         .         .         .         ,         ...  18 

THE   RETENTIVE   FACULTY. 

Statement  of  the  primary  law  : — time  or  repetition  necessary        .       20 
Other  things  aiding         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .21 


General  Circumstances  favouring  Retentiveness, 

The  PHYSICAL  CONDITION 

The  outlay  of  the  brain  in  acquirement,  compared  with  other 
exercises      ....... 

Times  when  retentiveness  is  at  its  best 
Concentration.     Influence  of  the  Will    . 

Pleasure  in  the  work        ..... 

Operation  of  pain    ...... 

Neutral  excitement.     Its  best  modes 

Retentiveness  follows  delicacy  of  discriminaiion 

Sharpness  of  transition     ..... 


similarity,  or  agreement. 


23 

25 

27 
28 

30 
31 

35 


Shock  of  similarity  in  diversity        ........       36 

Discoveries  of  agreement  favoured,  (i)  by  the  smallness  of  the  diffe- 
rences, (2)  by  juxtaposition,  (3)  by  cumulation  of  instances   .         ,       37 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 


Conditions: — (i)  something  to  construct  from,  (2)  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  what  is  aimed  at,  (3)  trial  and  error  .         .         .         .         .41 


ALTERNATION   AND   REMISSION   OF  ACTIVITY. 

Sleep  the  only  entire  cessation  of  mental  action 

Relief  given  by  alternation  or  transition 

Study  and  sport  or  pleasure     . 

Obseiving  and  doing 

Repetition  of  what  has  been  learnt  . 

Memory  and  judgment. — Language  and  Science 

Different  kinds  of  acquirements  alternated 


*4 
45 
46 

47 
47 

48 

49 


CULTURE   OF  THE   EMOTIONS. 


Associations  of  pleasure  and  pain    ..... 
Happy  associations  dependent  on  special  conditions 
Painful  growths  ;  passionate  outbursts     .... 
Moral  improvement,  distinguished  from  the  motives  to  duty 
Disinterested  repugnance  to  wrong ..... 


52 

53 
54 
56 
59 


PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  : — THE   SENSES. 


The  organic  sensibilities  principally  affected  in  punishments 
The  muscular  pains.     Nervous  pains— ennui    . 
Privation  of  nourishment         ...... 

Skin  inflictions 


60 
61 
62 
63 


PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :— THE    EMOTIONS. 

Survey  of  the  different  emotions  appealed  to     .         .         . 


04 


The  Emotion  of  Terror. 

Fear  may  or  may  not  accompany  pain 

Kvili  of  working  by  fear  ... 


66 
67 


The  Social  Motives, 

General  aggregate  of  social  emotion 

The  intenscr  forms  unsuitable  in  education 


6S 

69 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Best  mode  of  bringing  sociability  to  the  aid  of  study          ...       70 
Influence  of  the  multitude  on  the  individual 70 


The  Anti-Social  and  Malign  Emotions. 

Checks  to  Anger.     Cruelty .       72 

Legitimate  outlets  for  malevolent  passion  : — Punishments,  actual  and 
ideal  ;  humour  ;  play  .......         .74 

Anger,  an  aid  in  discipline     ........       7^ 


The  Emotion  of  Power. 

Actual  and  ideal  power — a  first-class  motive 77 

The  Emotions  of  Self  . 

Self-complacency  and  self-esteem    . 78 

Love  of  praise  or  admiration  .         .         .         .         .         .         .        •  •  79 

The  apportioning  of  praise  in  education  ......  79 

Dispraise,  censure  ..........  80 


The  Emotions  of  Intellect. 


Pleasures  of  Knowledge.         ....... 

Bearings  on  utility.     Certainty  sought  after      .... 

The  stimulus  of  the  emotions  unattended  with  the  desire  of  truth 
Cieneral  knowledge.     Its  severity,  and  the  two  modes  of  overcoming 
our  repugnance  to  it   . 

1.  Pleasurable  flash  of  discoveries  of  identity,  and  relief  from  an  in 

tellectual  burden ....... 

Dislike  induced  by  the  technical  formalities  of  science 
Opposition  of  the  concrete  and  the  abstract 

2.  Abstractive  separation  necessary  in  order  to  trace  causation 
Curiosity,  as  found  in  children,  often  spurious . 


81 

82 


84 

85 
87 
88 

89 
90 


nie  Emotions  of  Activity. 

Natural  or  spontaneous  activity  of  the  system  .....  92 

Gratified  self-activity  as  a  motive  iruteaching 93 

Feeling  of  origination  very  powerful,  but  not  immediately  applicable  94 

Feeling  suitable  to  the  learner — admiration  for  superior  knowledge  .  95 


CONTENTS.  XUl 
The  Emotions  of  Fine  Art, 

PAGE 

Fine  art  influential  as  enjoyment     . 96 

Various    effects   of   art  : — symmetry,    proportion,    design,    rhythm, 

time 97 

Music  as  a  moral  power.     Poetry    .......  97 

The  Ethical  Emotions. 

Sympathies,  social  yearnings,  reciprocated  good  conduct  ...  99 


The  Feelings  as  Appealed  to  in  Discipline, 


General  question  of  moral  control   ...... 

Erroneous  methods        ........ 

Nature  of  authority.     The  school  compared  with  the  family 
Principles  applicable  to  authority  in  general     .... 

Bentham's  exhaustive  view  of  punishment         .... 

Discipline  in  the  school :— influence  of  good  physical  surroundings 
teaching  arts  ;  teacher's  personality  ;  tact     .... 

One  man  against  a  multitude  is  in  the  post  of  danger 


100 

101 
102 

104 
106 

108 
III 


Emulation — Prizes— Place-taking. 

Ambition  to  be  first 1 13 

Prizes.     Praise  or  commendation I13 

Punishment. 

Censure  or  reproof.     Forms  of  disgrace  .         .         ,         .         .         .114 

Detention  from  play        .         .         . 1 1 5 

Impositions   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .116 

Corporal  punishment I16 

The  Discipline  of  Consequences. 

Allpwing  children  to  sufler  by  natural  conseriuences.     Advantages 
and  defects  of  the  method ii8 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TERMS   EXPLAINED 
ruipcituuce  of  a  preliminary  clearing-up  of  leading  terms . 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

MEMORY,  AND   ITS   CULTIVATION. 

PAGE 

Means  of  Strengthening  the  meipory 120 


JUDGMENT,  AND   ITS  CULTIVATION 

Judgment  has  a  variety  of  meanings         .         .         .         .         .         .122 

Us  contrast  to  memory  . I2J 


IMAGINATION. 

Conception,  or  the  conceiving  faculty      .         .         .         .         .         .124 

Can  this  be  cultivated  as  a  whole  ?  .         .         .         .         .         .         .125 

The  creative  faculty        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .126 

Imaginative  literature.     The  gratifying  of  emotion  the  leading  cir- 
cumstance .         .  ........     127 

PROCEEDING    FROM   THE   KNOWN    TO   THE    UNKNOWN. 

An  admitted  principle,  but  liable  to  uncertainty  in  its  application      .     128 

ANALYSIS   AND   SYNTHESIS. 

Analysis  has  certain  distinct  meanings     ,         .         .         .         .         .129 
Synlhesis  an  unsuitable  term  ........     131 

OBJECT  LESSONS. 

Occasion  of  the  first  introduction  of  the  phrase  ....     132 

Reference  to  acquiring  the  meanings  of  names  .         ....     133 
Selection  of  objects  as  texts     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •     ^35 

INFORMATION   AND  TRAINING. 

What  things  properly  constitute  information     .         .         ,         .         .136 
Wliat  is  comprised  under  discipline,  or  training        .         .         .         ,130 

ONE  THING  WELL. 

Minute  acquaintance  with  a  subject  in  detail    .         .         .        .         .     1  }2 
How  far  a  synoptical  view  of  certain  subjects  may  be  of  value  .         .     143 

The  beginner  must  abide  by  one  scheme 144 

Abuses  of  vtulttim  non  viulta .         .         ,         .         ,         ,         ,         ,145 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  V. 
EDUCATION  VALUES. 

PAGE 

The  survey  of  values  to  embrace  science  and  language      .         •         .     146 

THE   SCIENCES. 

Science  in  general  inculcates  the  aiming  at  truth      ....     146 

Defects  of  unscientific  practice         .......     I47 

The  antithesis  of  the  individual  and  the  general        .         .         .         .147 


TTu  Abstract  Sciences. 

Mathematics  as  the  type  of  the  deductive  or  demonstrative  method 

Important  formulae  derived  from  mathematics,  and  applied  else 
where  : — plurality  of  factors  influencing  a  result ;  definite  and  in 
definite  solutions  ;  totalizing  fluctuations  ;  probabilities 

Practical  applications  numerous  and  important;  but,  for  the  majority, 
the  value  of  this  training  counts  for  most      .... 

Improper  claims  made  for  this  science     ..... 

What  mathematics  does  not  do 


14S 


149 

152 
J53 
153 


77ie  Experimental  and  Inductive  Sciences, 

Best  guides  to  ascertaining  facts  by  observation  and  experiment         .     1 54 
Over-generalization  corrected .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .154 

Limits  to  empirical  generalities        .         .         .         .         .         •         •     ISS 

As    '  useful    knowledge.'       Applications    of   natural     philosophy, 
chemistiy,  and  physiology 155 


The  Sciences  of  Classification. 

To  classify  is  an  education  in  itself . 158 

The  Natural  History  Sciences         .         .        .         .         .        .         .158 

Their  popular  interest  and  useful  applications 1 59 

As  contributing  to  the  art  of  lucid  composition         .         .         .         .159 

T?ie  Science  of  Mind. 

The  common  knowledge  of  mind  compared  with  the  science  of  mind      160 
Preparation  for  the  study l6o 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Logic,  a  suitable  accompaniment  to  the  scientific  course   .         .         •     l6l 

Summary  of  the  effects  of  culture  in  science.     The  analyzing  opera- 
tion    i6l 

Bearings  on  fine  art — a  mixed  influence  .         .         .         .         .         .     !62 

The  Practical  or  Applied  Sciences. 

Some  of  these  purely  professional 163 

The   sociological  group  : — politics,    political    economy,    legislation, 

law  or  jurisprudence  .........  164 

Ethics,  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  philology         .  .         .         .  166 

The  practical  sciences  do  not  give  mental  training   ....  167 

LANGUAGES. 

Languages  to  be  valued  according  to  the  use  we  are  to  make  of  them     167 
Language  is  an  affair  of  memory,  helped  by  the  sciences  of  grammar 
and  rhetoric       . 168 


MECHANICAL  TRAINING. 

General  training  of  the  bodily  organs      ......  169 

May  be  pushed  too  far 169 

TRAINING  OF  THE  SENSES. 

Increase  of  discriminating  power 170 

Different  a^iplications  of  sense  training 170 

Drawing,  as  a  general  training.     Does  not  necessarily  cultivate  the 
power  of  observation  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ■171 

The  fascination  for  drawing  has  serious  drawbacks   .         .         .         .  1 72 


CHAPTER   VI. 
SEQUENCE   OF  SUBJECTS— PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

The  educator  works  on  a  growing  brain  .         .         .         .         .         •  1 73 

Order  of  manifestation  of  the  faculties 176 

Peculiarities  of  the  infant  mind 1 77 

Earliest  motives  to  take  in  knowledge 177 


CONTENTS. 


XVU 


Activity  and  pleasuie      .... 

Intensity  of  sensation  is  an  influence 
The  active  energies  bring  forth  experience 
How  to  gain  attention  to  the  indifferent 
The  meafis  to  pleasure  receive  notice 
The  active  senses  are  occupied  somehow . 
The  finishing  stroke  is  outward  compulsion 
Ouestions  to  be  considered  : — At  what  age  should 
mence?      ...... 

Relative  priority  of  different  branches 
Age  when  memory  is  at  its  best 
What  are  the  sciences  that  come  late  ?     . 
Best  age  for  moral  impressions         .        . 


education 


PAGE 

178 

179 

!79 
181 
1S2 
183 
>«3 

184 

1S5 
186 
187 
188 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SEQUENCE   OF  SUBJECTS-LOGICAL. 

Order  of  logical  dependence  exemplified  .         .... 

The  momentous  transition  from  concrete  to  abstract . 
Classing  goes  on  from  the  first ;  but  the  abstract  notion  involves 
sudden  leap        ......... 

The  manner  of  going  to  work  : — i.  Selection  of  particulars 

2.  Placing  of  instances  ....... 

3.  Continuous  accumulation.     Brilliant  examples  obstructive    . 
Contrast  a  great  help      ........ 

4.  Ta.king  advantage  of  the  flash  of  agreement 

5.  Showing  cause  and  effect   as  depending  on   properties  in  their 

isolation  ......... 

6.  Representative  particulars  given  for  retaining  the  notion 

7.  The  definition  by  language         ...... 

What  things  are  implied  in  analytical  or  logical  sequence 
(^ases  where  sequence  does  not  apply       ..... 

1 .  Conelatives  are  known  together — the  order  of  statement  being  in 

different  ......... 

2.  The  mixing  of  notions  of  different  degrees  of  advancement    . 

3.  The  gratification  of  the  feelings 

4.  Imi)atience  to  advance  to  matters  of  interest 

5.  The  language  memory  may  hold  things  in  the  unmeaning  state 

6.  Detached  propositions  may  be  understood  to  a  certain  extent 


190 

191 

192 

193 
194 
194 

19s 
196 

196 
197 
197 
198 
201 

201 
203 
20s 
205 
205 
207 


XVlll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

7.  Precepts  may  be  culled  from  difTerenl  sciences     ....     207 

8.  The  cultivation  of  independent  organs  or  faculties        .         .         .     208 

9.  Knowledge  of  language  and   knowledge  of  things  proceed  to- 

gether   ........         ...     2rS 


DOUBTFUL  CASES  OF  SEQUENCE. 

In  Arithmetic,  the  order  of  the  empirical  and  the  rational         .         .     209 
(Irammatical  teaching — the  order  given  in  the  'Code'     .         .         .     210 
Sequence  in  the  mother  tongue— vocables  and  sentence-structure       .     212 
Grammar  a  late  subject :  on  a  par  with  algebra        .         .         .         .213 

Early  knowledge — its  several  stages         .         .  .         .         .         .214 

The  tale  or  narrative — metrical  composition — imaginative  fiction        .     214 
Diflficulties  of  the  start  in  knowledge        .         .         .         .         .         -215 

The  early  foundations.     Culture  of  the  imagination  .         .         .216 

The  object  lesson  : — aid  to  the  conceptive  faculty     ....     216 

Sequence  in  the  reading  books         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     2t8 

Natural  history  subjects.     Animals  preferred  .         .         .         .         .219 

Plants  and  minerals         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         .219 

In  these  lessons  sequence  too  much  dispensed  with  ....     220 

The  interest  of  personality  leads  to  ai.  aversion  of  the  order     .         .     221 
Stages  of  natural  history  study         ,  .  .  .         .  .  .221 

Sequence  in  geography  .........     222 

Too  much  expected  in  the  commencement        .....     223 

The  methodical  study  by  object  lessons    ......     224 

History,  a  mixture  of  what  is  easy  to  the  young  with  what  appeals  to 
the  mature  mind  .........     225 

The  elementary  conceptions  of  society     .         .         .         .         .         .226 

Erroneous  methods  of  commencing  history       .....     227 

Proper  teaching  when  the  age  arrives       ......     228 

Sequence  in  the  sciences  ........     229 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
METJ/ODS. 

Rhetorical  arts  of  communicating  knowledge   .....     230 
Cei  tain  points  of  teaching  not  included  in  rhetoric  ....     23I 

CONSTRICTIVE  ACQUIREMENTS. 
Laws  of  the  constructive  faculty 233 


CONTENTS.  XIX 
speaking. 

PAGB 

Exercises  in  articulation 233 

The  analysis  of  sounds  gives  the  order  of  precedei  ce        .         ,         .  234 

The  Manual  Constructiveuess. 

Writing  and  drawing 235 

The  sense  element  in  mechanical  aptitudes       .....  235 

The  manual  exercises  in  the  Kindergarten.     Danger  of  being  too 

much  engrossed  with  these  ........  236 

Writing  combined  with  elementary  drawing    .....  236 

Keading. 

First  steps  of  the  alphabet       ........  238 

Names  of  letters  and  words     ........  239 

Our  irregular  spelling  to  be  approached  by  ihe  cases  of  uniformity     .  241 

Pronunciation  and  elocution    ........  24a 

Knowledge  exercises  to  be  forborne  at  first       .....  242 

Example  of  premature  attempts       .         .         .         .         .         .         .  244 

THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

Dangers  to  be  avoided   .........  247 

The   lesson   ranges  over   natural  history,  physical  science,  and    the 

useful  arts 248 

Direction  given  to  point  out, — first,  qualities,  and  next,  uses    .         ,  249 

Account  of  unobvious  or  hidden  properties       .....  249 

Distraction  arising  from  difierent  outlets 250 

Necessity  of  pre-arranging  the  lessons      .         .         .         .         .         .251 

A  definite  purpose,  or  limitation  of  scope         .....  252 

Example  of  a  piece  of  chalk    ........  253 

Distinction  of  the  special  or  individual  lesson,  and  the  generalized 

lesson         ...........  254 

Examples  from  minerals  and  plants          ......  254 

Adding  to  the  store  of  concrete  conceptions      .         .         .         .         .  256 

Examples  from  animals.     Individuality  and  Generality     .         .         .  257 

Instance  of  the  camel 258 

The  object  less^in  in  the  primary  sciences         .....  260 

Consists  of  empirical  statements       .......  262 

The  principle  taught  should  rule  the  lesson 264 

Example  of  the  Atmosphere    ........  265 

Dew 268 

2 


XX 


CONTENTS. 


GEOGRAPHY, 

Preparatory  object  lessons 

Inadequacy  of  the  chance  impressions  of  the  child 

The  laws  of  the  object  lesson  to  be  strictly  attended 

Introduction  of  cause  and  effect  into  description 

Aid  of  sketches  from  nature   . 

Meaning  of  a  map 

Local  situation,  form  and  magnitude 

Geographical  description 

Physical  geography 

Connection  of  geography  with  history 

The  verbal  memory  in  geography   . 

Map  Drawing        .... 


272 

273 
274 

275 
276 
276 
277 
278 
279 
279 
280 
280 


HISTORY. 

Earliest  lessons  in  history  relate  to  human  nature     . 
01)ject  lessons  on  political  constitutions  .         .         . 
Universal  history  sketched  for  the  sake  of  chronology 
Variety  of  uses  and  methods  of  history    . 
Political  geography  the  natural  opening . 
The  different  scales  of  historic  narrative  . 
The  highest  form  of  history   . 
General  History  taught  by  selection         . 


281 
282 
282 
283 
284 
284 
285 
286 


SCIENCE. 


Arts  of  communication  generally,  and  of  the  abstract  idea  in  par- 
ticular, pre-supposed 287 


Arithmeiic, 

Use  of  objects  in  the  concrete 288 

What  is  implied  in  the  conception  of  number   .         .         .         ,         .  ■  289 

The  decimal  system  and  commencement  of  computation  .         .         .  289 

Aids  to  learning  the  multiplication  table 290 

Understanding  of  the  reasons,  how  far  available       ....  29T 
Arithmetic   not  thoroughly  comprehended,  until  the  higher  mathe- 
matics is  reached         .         .      _ .         .         .         .        '.         .         .  292 
Utilizing    of  the  arithmetical   exercises    for   impressing   important 
numerical  facts  .......         1         .         .  292 


CONTENTS.  XXI 
The  Higher  Mathematics. 

PARE 

The  methods   of  impressing  abstract   and   symbolical  notions  and 

principles  ...........  295 

The  real  foundations  of  mathematics  are  attached  to  geometry  .         .  295 

Concrete  teaching  of  little  avail        .......  296 

Aids  alTorded  by  the  teacher  .         .         .   ^     .         .         .         .         .  297 

Algebra  succeeds  geometry      ........  297 

Mathematics,  in  respect  of  teaching  method,  a  type  of  the  deductive 

sciences      ...........  298 

The  iNDtJCTiVB  Sciences  have  certain  specialities         .        .         .  299 

Natural  History. 

The  ger^al   and  the    special  departments  of  the   natural  history 

sciences      ...........  300 

Mineralogy  and  Botany  least  complicated         .....  300 

In  Zoology  there  is  a  play  of  cross  purposes     .....  301 

PRACTICAL  TEACHING. 

Reasons   for   familiarizing   pupils  with  the   objects   of  experimental 

science 303 

How  far  practical  work  enters  into  a  general  training         .         .         .  304 

ORAL    TEACHING   AND   TEXT-BOOKS. 

Place  and  function  of  the  text-book 305 

Prescribing  of  tasks,  with  or  without  explanation      ,         .         .         .  306 

EXAMINATIONS   GENERALLY. 

Viewed,  in  the  first  instance,  as  part  of  the  teaching          .         .         .  308 

The  disadvantage  of  a  composed  catechism      .....  308 

Questions  appended  to  passages  of  information         ....  308 

Examinations  at  the  close  of  the  course  or  curriculum        .         .         .  309 

Examinations  for  public  appointments.     Considerations  involved      .  309 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  MOTHER    TONGUE. 

Tnitial  difficulty— the  fusion  of  language  and  thought        .        .        .    31a 
Principle  of  one  thing  at  a  time      .......     3x3 


XXll 


CONTENTS. 


CONDITIONS   OF   LANGUAGE   ACQUISITION   GENERALLY. 

PACE 

Uniting  word  to  word  by  pure  verbal  adhesiveness  ....  314 

Superior  advantage  of  associating  names  at  once  with  their  objects    .  315 

Importance  of  understanding  the  meanings  conveyed         .         .         .  316 

Disadvantage  of  beginning  foreign  languages  too  early      .         ,         •  317 
Aids  to  purely  verbal  acquisition      .          .          .          .         .          .         .318 

Technical  devices  ..........  320 

Modes  o*"  fixing  attention  upon  the  words  to  be  associated          .         .  320 
Proposai  to  bring  forward  words  in  the  order  of  frequency  of  occur- 
rence            321 


THE   MOTHER   TONGUE. 

The  names  of  known  things  seized  willingly     .....  323 
Early   stages  of  language  show  the  teaching  of  knowledge  under 

difficulties 324 

Employment  of  the  object  lesson     .......  324 

Knowledge  on  its  language  side      .......  325 

Correction  of  vulgar  and  provincial  errors         .....  326 

Explanations  that  count  as  thing-knowledge     .....  327 

Language  lessons  proper — the  teaching  of  synonymous  words    .         .327 

Subtle  reaction  of  the  knowledge  of  things       .....  328 

The  shades  of  difference  in  synonymous  terms .....  328 

The  knowledge-master  as  a  word-master ......  329 

The  language-master  working  by  easy  stories  and  descriptions  .         .  330 
Committing  passages  to  memory      .          ,          .          .         .          .          -331 

Poetry  preferred  at  first  .........  332 

Comparative  advantages  of  prose  passages        .....  333 

Impressing  the  sentence  structure    .......  334 

Sentences  also  follow  meaning  or  thought         .....  335 

Varying  of  sentence  forms       ........  336 

Arrangement  of  words  and  clauses  in  sentences         ....  337 

Obverse  equivalents  especially  valuable   ......  338 


TEACHING  GRAMMAR. 

Grammar  abridges  labour        .... 
Special  uses  : — i.  Avoiding  subtle  errors 

2.  Isolating  the  language  lesson-     . 

3.  Training  in  the  structure  of  sentences 

4.  Contributing  to  the  pupil's  wealth  of  vocables 


339 

340 
340 
341 
34? 


/ 


CONTENTS.  XXIU 


The  Age  for  commencing  Grammar. 


PAGE 

344 

344 
345 
346 
347 


Things  necessary  to  be  understood  first   . 
Teaching  without  book  ...... 

Grammar  not  to  be  commenced  before  ten  years  of  age 
Ho*  to  fill  up  the  previous  time     .         .         ,         , 
Exercises  paving  the  way  to  grammar 
The  lesson  in  English  to  be  isolated  some  time  before  1)eginning 
grammar     ...........     347 

Actual  teaching  of  grammar.     Differences  of  view  on  certain  points  .     349 

THE   HIGHER  COMPOSITION. 

Definitions  and  rules  of  rhetoric      ......  350 

Essay  writing.     Different  forms  of  exercises     .....  351 

The  great  aim,  to  distinguish  good  and  bad  in  composition        .         .  353 

Lessons  impressed  during  promiscuous  reading         ....  353 

ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 

How  literary  criticism  passes  into  the  history  of  literature  .         .     354 

Selection  of  authors  for  special  study        ......     355 

Preference  of  later  authors  to  earlier  ;  of  prose  to  poet  17  .         .         .     355 
Consideration  of  the  matter  as  far  as  possible  excluded     .         .         '357 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   VALUE   OF  THE   CLASSICS. 

Original  reasons  for  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  Modern  Europe  359 
Arguments  for  the  continued  use  of  these  languages  :—  I.  The  infor- 
mation still  locked  up  in  Greek  and  Latin  authors         .         .         .  361 
H.  The  art  treasures  of  Greek  and   Roman  literature  inaccessible 
except  through  the  languages       .......  365 

in.  The  classical  languages  train  the  mind 366 

What  the  training  consists  in  : — Grammar  ;  translation  .         .  367 

Comparison  of  the  advantages  possessed  by  other  subjects      .  371 
Supplying  materials  for  the  mind  to  work  upon      . 

IV.  Classics  as  a  preparation  for  the  mother  tongue  .         .         .  374 

The  words  derived  from  Classics  musl  still  be  learned  in  their 

new  meanings  .........  374 

In  regard  to  syntax,  the  study  is  obstructive  ....  377 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

V.  Classics  as  an  introduction  to  philology.     Small  value  of  this 

contribution          .........  378 

Case  on  the  other  side  : — I.  The  cost      ......  380 

II.  The  mixture  of  conflicting  studies  distracts  the  learner         .          .  382 

There  is  a  fallacy  in  proposing  to  cultivate  different  faculties 

in  the  same  exercise           .         .         .         .         .         .         .  38J 

III.  The  study  devoid  of  interest    .......  385 

IV.  Evil  of  pandering  to  authority .......  386 

Note  or.  the  opinions  of  Mr.   Henry  Sidgwick,  Mr.   Alexander  J. 

Ellis,  and  Mr.  Matthewr  Arnold 387 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE  RENOVATED   CURRICULUM.. 

The  Higher  Education  should  embrace  :— I.  Science      .         .         .  390 

II.  The  Humanities,  including  (i)  History  and  the  Social  Science, 

and  (2)  some  portion  of  Universal  Literature  .  .  .  391 

III.  English  Composition  and  Literature  .  .  .  .  392 
Reasons  for  requiring  all  the  three  departments  ....  392 
A  certain  time  to  be  allowed  for  extra  or  additional  subjects,  and 

foreign  languages  to  have  the  foremost  claim         ....  393 

Other  additional  subjects         ........  394 

Reasons  for  the  scheme  ........  .  394 

Arrest  of  the  present  tendency  to  over-specializing  in  liberal  studies  .  395 

Objections  considered  : — Supposed  ruin  of  Classics  .  .  .  .  395 

Alleged  inaptitude  of  many  minds  for  science  ,  ....  396 


CHAPTER   Xn. 

MORAL  education: 

First  lessons  in  morality— personal  experience  of  what  is  forbidden 

and  what  is  allowed    .........  398 

Resembles  our  first  education  in  the  Physical  laws    ....  399 

Supplementary  teaching — What  ?......,  400 

Lessons  of  the  schoolmaster. '    He  presents  selected  and  cumulated 

examples  of  the  consequences  of  good  or  ill  conduct       .         .         .  401 

Importance  to  this  oni  of  a  good  classification  of  iJie  virtues     .         .  404 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

PAGB 

The  fundamental  virtues  are  prudence,  justice,  benevolence.      They 
cross  and  re -cross        .  .......     404 

Correct  apprehension  of  the  motives — self-regarding  and  social  .     406 

Survey  of  the  social  relationships     .......     408 

Moral  teaching,  like  oratory,  demands  resources  of  language     .         .     409 

Moral  ideals — the  tendency  to  exaggeration 409 

Cautions  needful  in  moral  lessons    .         .         .         .         .         .         .411 

1.  The  dislike  of  the  pupils,  to  be  taken  account  of  .         .         .411 

2.  The  need  of  working  by  conciliation  rather  than  fear   .         .         .     412 

3.  The  self-regarding  motives  most  available  .         .         .         .         .412 

Occasions  when  the  heroic  motives  may  be  used        .         .         .413 
Mixed  sentiment  of  personal  dignity  .....     413 

4.  The  employment  of  poetry  and  romance 414 

5.  Mutuality  or  reciprocity  in  services     ......     415 

6.  Appeals  to  the  humane  sentiment        ......     416 

7.  The  vice  of  lying  has  a  background  of  selfishness,  which  ought 

to  be  traced  out  in  each  case        .......     416 

8.  Miscarriages  in  moral  teaching : — The   examples    from    animals 

irrelevant  and  futile  .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         .417 

Modes  of  representing  the  blessings  of  labour      -     .         ...  41S 

Poverty  and  contentment.     The  inequalities  of  wealth.      Need   of 

sound  teaching  in  the  social  science      ......  419 

Religion  as  related  to  morality         .......  420 

As   taught   on  its  own  account,  partly  intellectual,  but  still  mure 

emotional 422 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ART  ED UCA  TIOJV. 

The  essential  of  art  teaching  is  the  culture  of  art  emotion          .         ,  425 

This  comes  incidentally  to  learning  the  practice  of  any  fine  art  .  426 
Independent  cultivation  of  aesthetic  sensibility.    Example  of  the  taste 

for  Landscape    ..........  426 

Conditions — a  happy  and  disengaged  state  of  mind,   and  a  good 

monitor      ...                  .......  427 


Taste  as  discrimination  ...... 

Music,  Elocution,  Painting,  &c 

Tlic  difiicult  questions  of  art  culture  raised  by  poetiy 
The  ix)ets  claim  to  be  moral  teachers 
Fiction  attacked  on  the  score  of  morality 


428 
429 
429 
430 
4J» 


XXVI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The  class  too  wide  to  be  discussed  as  a  whole  ....     431 

Fiction  viewed  as  an  exciting  stimulus     ......     432 

The  impression   received  depends  on  the   previous  culture  of  the 
reader         ...........     432 

The  drama  merely  a  department  of  fiction  :  rendered  more  impres- 
sive for  good  or  for  evil  by  stage  representation     .         .         .         '433 
Theeducating  influence  of  the  Theatre,  as  such,  confined  to  elocution 
and  demeanour  .         . 433 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
PROPORTIONS. 


Examples  of  disproportion  amounting  to  miscarriage 

Excesses  in  mathematics,  and  in  minute  scholarship  in  Classics 

Liability  to  disproportion  in  natural  history     . 

Excesses  in  primary  sciences  ...... 

Languages,  ancient  and  moflern      ..... 

Antiquarian  part  of  our  own  language      .... 

Excess  of  attention  to  expression  as  compared  with  thought 
Primary  education,  and  its  relation  to  secondary 


434 
434 
434 
435 
435 
436 
436 
436 


APPENDIX. 

FURTHER  EXAMPLES  OF  THE   OBJECT  LESSON. 

The  difficulties  of  the  le?son  culminate  in  the  explanations  of  Primary 

Science       ...........  439 

Attention  to  the  empirical  character  of  the  statements       .         .         .  440 

Example  of  the  teapot  spout  and  lid 440 

The  Spout  :  a  lesson  in  cause  and  effect         .....  440 

Imperfection  in  procedure.     How  to  bring  it  to  its  proper  termination  441 
Hole  in  the  Lid  :  an  advanced  lesson,  to  be  separated  from  tlie 

other  by  a  considerable  interval  .......  443 

In  such  lessons  an  object  text  has  no  proper  bearing         .         .         ,  443 


CONTENTS.  XXVll 


PASSING  EXPLANATIONS  OF  TERMS. 

PAGE 

Methods  of  explaining  chance  words  as  they  occur   ....  445 

1.  Showing  the  objects  .........  445 

2.  If  the  thing  is  known  or  familiar,  it  may  be  recalled  by  some 

known  name        .........  44$ 

The  snare  of  explaining  by  synonyms  generally          .         .         .  445 

3.  The  round-about  interpretation.     Proceeds  on  the  possibility  of 

our  understanding  the  notions  adduced .....  446 

The  ambiguity  of  names — how  managed  .....  447 

4.  Figurative  uses,  to  be  dealt  with  on  a  plan  .....  448 

5.  Spontaneous  process  of  divining  the  meanings  of  words  by  induc- 

tion from  the  cases  of  their  employment   .....  448 

6.  Leading  terms  in  science  or  art  to  be  explained  by  a  methodical 

course  in  the  department      .......  449 

Words  may  be  explained  solely  for  their  use  on  the  occasion  .  450 
Certain  words  explicable  without  interrupting  the  course  of  the 

lesson           ..........  450 

7.  In  systematic  knowledge  teaching,  words  are  learned  in  groups    .  451 

8.  Vinal  appeal,  in  explaining  general  and  abstract  words,  to  ex- 

amples in  the  concrete 452 


EDUCATION   AS   A   SCIENCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SCOPE   OF   THE   SCIENCE    OF  EDUCATION: 

The  scientific  treatment  of  any  art  consists  partly  in 
applying  the  principles  furnished  by  the  several  sciences 
involved,  as  chemical  laws  to  agriculture  ;  and  partly  in 
enforcing,  throughout  the  discussion,  the  utmost  preci- 
sion and  rigour  in  the  statement,  deduction  and  proof 
of  the  various  maxims  or  rules  that  make  up  the  art. 

Both  fecundity  in  the  thoughts  and  clearness  in 
the  directions  should  attest  the  worth  of  the  scientific 
method. 

DEFINITIOl^S   OF   EDUCATION. 

First,  let  me  quote  the  definition  embodied  in  the 
ideal  of  the  founders  of  the  Prussian  National  System. 
It  is  given  shortly  as  '  the  harmonious  and  equable 
evolution  of  the  human  powers  ;'  at  more  length,  in  the 
words  of  Stein,  '  by  a  method  based  on  the  nature  of 
tlie  mind,  every  power  of  the  soul  to  be  unfolded,  every 
crude  principle  of  life  stirred  up  and  nourished,  all  one- 
sided culture  avoided,  and  the  impulses  on  which  the 
strength  and  worth  of  men  rest,  carefully  attended  to.'  ' 
Tl-is   definition,  which   is  pointed    against    narrowness 

'  Donrldson's  Lectures  on  Education,  p.  3b. 


2  DEFINITIONS   OF   EDUCATION. 

generally,  may  have  had  special  reference  to  the  many 
omissions  in  the  schooling  of  the  foregone  times :  the 
leaving  out  of  such  things  as  bodily  or  muscular  train- 
ing ;  training  in  the  senses  or  observation  ;  training  in 
art  or  refinement.  It  further  insinuates  that  hitherto 
the  professed  teacher  has  failed  to  do  much  even 
for  the  intellect,  for  the  higher  moral  training,  or  for 
the  training  with  a  view  to  happiness  or  enjoyment. 

Acting  on  this  ideal,  not  only  would  the  educator 
put  more  pressure  altogether  on  the  susceptibilities  of 
his  pupils  :  he  would  also  avoid  over-doing  any  one 
branch ;  he  would  consider  proportioii  in  the  things  to 
be  taught  To  be  all  language,  all  observation,  all 
abstract  science,  all  fine  art,  all  bodily  expertness,  all 
lofty  sentiment,  all  theology,  would  not  be  accepted  as 
a  proper  outcome  of  any  trainer's  work. 

The  Prussian  definition,  good  so  far,  does  not  readily 
accommodate  itself  to  such  circumstances  as  these : — 
namely,  the  superior  aptitude  of  individuals  for  some 
things  rather  than  for  others  ;  the  advantage  to  society 
of  pre-eminent  fitness  for  special  functions,  although 
gained  by  a  one-sided  development ;  the  difficulty  of 
reconciling  the  '  whole  man  '  with  himself ;  the  limit 
to  the  power  of  the  educator,  which  imposes  the  neces 
sity  of  selection  according  to  relative  importance. 

Although  by  no  means  easy,  it  is  yet  possible  to 
make  allowance  for  these  various  considerations,  under 
the  theory  of  harmonious  development ;  but,  after  the 
operation  is  accomplished,  the  doubt  will  arise  whether 
mr.ch  is  gained  by  using  that  theory  as  the  defining  fact 
of  education. 

In  the  very  remarkable  article  on  Education  contri* 


TAKING   IN   TOO   MUCH.  3 

buted  by  James  Mill  to  the  '  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,' 
the  end  of  Education  is  stated  to  be,  '  to  render  the  indi- 
vidual, as  much  as  possible,  an  instrument  of  happiness, 
first  to  himself,  and  next  to  other  beings.'  This,  how- 
ever, should  be  given  as  an  amended  answer  to  the  first 
question  of  the  Westminster  Catechism — '  What  is  the 
chief  end  of  man  } '  The  utmost  that  we  could  expect 
of  the  educator,  who  is  not  everybody,  is  to  contribute 
his  part  to  the  promotion  of  human  happiness  in  the 
order  stated.  No  doubt  the  definition  goes  more  com- 
pletely to  the  root  of  the  matter  than  the  German  for- 
mula. It  does  not  trouble  itself  with  the  harmony,  the 
many-sidedness,  the  wholeness,  of  the  individual  deve- 
lopment ;  it  would  admit  these  just  as  might  be  requisite 
for  securing  the  final  end. 

James  Mill  is  not  singular  in  his  over-grasping  view 
of  the  subject.  The  most  usual  subdivision  of  Educa- 
tion is  into  Physical,  Intellectual,  Moral,  Religious, 
Technical.  Now  when  we  inquire  into  the  meaning  of 
Physical  Education,  we  find  it  to  be  the  rearing  of  a 
healthy  human  being,  by  all  the  arts  and  devices  of 
nursing,  feeding,  clothing,  and  general  regimen.  Mill 
includes  this  subject  in  his  article,  and  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer  devotes  a  very  interesting  chapter  to  it  in  his 
work  on  Education.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that 
this  department  may  be  kept  quite  separate,  important 
though  it  be.  It  does  not  at  all  depend  upon  the  prin- 
ciples and  considerations  that  the  educator,  properly  so 
called,  has  in  view  in  the  carrying  on  of  his  work.  The 
discussion  of  the  subject  does  not  in  any  way  help  us 
in  educational  matters,  as  most  commonly  understood ; 
Qor  does  it  derive  any  illumination  from  being  placed 


4  DEFINITIONS   OF   EDUCATION. 

side  by  side  with  the  arts  of  the  recognized  teacher. 
The  fact  of  bodily  health  or  vigour  is  a  leading  postulate 
in  bodily  or  mental  training,  but  the  trainer  does  not 
take  upon  himself  to  lay  down  the  rules  of  hygiene. 

The  inadvertence — for  so  I  regard  it — of  coupling  the 
Art  of  Health  with  Education  is  easily  disposed  of,  and 
does  not  land  us  in  any  arduous  controversies.  Very 
different  is  another  aspect  of  these  definitions :  that 
wherein  the  end  of  Education  is  propounded  as  the 
promotion  of  human  happiness,  human  virtue,  human  per- 
fection. Probably  the  qualification  will  at  once  be  con- 
ceded, that  Education  is  but  one  of  the  means,  a  single 
contributing  agency  to  the  all-including  end.  Neverthe- 
less, the  openings  for  difference  of  opinion  as  to  what 
constitutes  happiness,  virtue,  or  perfection  are  very  wide. 
Moreover,  the  discussion  has  its  proper  place  in  Ethics 
and  in  Theology,  and  if  brought  into  the  field  of  Educa- 
tion, should  be  received  under  protest. 

Before  entering  upon  the  consideration  of  this  diffi- 
culty, the  greatest  of  all,  I  will  advert  to  some  of  the 
other  views  of  Education  that  seem  to  err  on  the  side 
of  including  too  much.  Here  I  may  quote  from  the 
younger  Mill,  who,  like  his  father,  and  unlike  the 
generality  of  theorists,  starts  more  scientifico  with  a 
definition.  Education,  according  to  him,  'includes 
whatever  we  do  for  ourselves,  and  whatever  is  done  for 
us  ■Dy  others,  for  the  express  purpose  of  bringing  us 
nearer  to  -the  perfection  of  our  nature ;  in  its  largest 
acceptation  it  comprehends  even  the  indirect  effects 
produced  on  character  and  on  the  human  faculties  by 
things  of  which  the  direct  purposes  are  different ;  by  laws, 
by  forms  of  government,  by  the  industrial  arts,  by  modes 


UNFRUITFUL  DEFINITIONS.  5 

of  Social  life  ;  nay,  even  by  physical  facts  not  dependent 
on  human  will ;  by  climate,  soil,  and  local  position.'  He 
admits,  however,  that  this  is  a  very  wide  view  of  th<^ 
subject,  and  for  his  own  immediate  purpose  advances  a 
narrower  view,  namely — *  the  culture  which  each  genera- 
tion purposely  gives  to  those  who  are  to  be  its  successors, 
in  order  to  qualify  them  for  at  least  keeping  up,  and,  if 
possible,  for  raising,  the  improvement  which  has  been 
attained.' ' 

Besides  involving  tne  dispute  as  to  what  constitutes 
'  perfection,'  the  first  and  larger  statement  is,  I  think, 
too  wide  even  for  the  most  comprehensive  Philosophy  of 
Education.  The  influences  exerted  on  the  human  cha- 
racter by  climate  and  geographical  position,  by  arts, 
laws,  government,  and  modes  of  social  life,  constitute  a 
very  interesting  department  of  Sociology,  and  have  their 
place  there  and  nowhere  else.  What  we  do  for  ourselves, 
and  what  others  do  for  us,  to  bring  us  nearer  to  the  per-r 
fection  of  our  nature,  may  be  education  in  a  precise  sense 
of  the  word,  and  it  may  not.  I  do  not  see  the  propriet}* 
of  including  under  the  subject  the  direct  operation  of 
rewards  and  punishments.  No  doubt  we  do  something 
to  educate  ourselves,  and  society  does  something  to 
educate  us,  in  a  sufficiently  proper  acceptation  of  the 
word  ;  but  the  ordinary  influence  of  society,  in  the  dis- 
pensing of  punishment  and  reward,  is  not  the  essential 
fact  of  Education,  as  I  propose  to  regard  it,  although  an 
adjunct  to  some  of  its  legitimate  functions. 

Mill's  narrower  expression  of  the  scope  of  the  subject 
is  not  exactly  erroneous  ;  the  moulding  of  each  genera- 
tion by  the  one  preceding  is  not  improperly  described 

*  Inaugural  Address  at  St.  Andrews,  p,  4.. 


6  DEFINITIONS   OF   EDUCATION. 

as  an  education.  It  is,  however,  grandiose  rather  than 
scientific.  Nothing  is  to  De  got  out  of  it.  It  does  not 
give  the  lead  to  the  subsequent  exposition. 

I  find  in  the  article  '  Education,'  in  '  Chambers's 
Encyclopaedia,'  a  definition  to  the  following  effect : — '  In 
the  widest  sense  of  the  word  a  man  is  educated,  either 
for  good  or  for  evil,  by  everything  that  he  experiences 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  [say,  rather,  "  formed," 
"  made,"  "  influenced  "].  But  in  the  more  limited  and 
usual  sfense,  the  term  education  is  confined  to  the  efforts 
made,  of  set  purpose,  to  train  men  in  a  particular  way 
— the  efforts  of  the  grown-up  part  of  the  community  to 
inform  the  intellect  and  mould  the  character  of  the 
young  [rather  too  much  stress  on  the  fact  of  influence 
from  without]  ;  and  more  especially  to  the  labours  of 
professional  educators  or  schoolmasters.'  The  conclud- 
ing clause  is  the  nearest  to  the  point — the  arts  and 
methods  employed  by  the  schoolmaster  ;  for,  although 
he  is  not  alone  in  the  work  that  he  is  expressly  devoted 
to,  yet  he  it  is  that  typifies  the  process  in  its  greatest 
singleness  and  purity.  If  by  any  investigations,  inven- 
tions, or  discussions  we  can  improve  his  art  to  the  ideal 
pitch,  we  shall  have  done  nearly  all  that  can  be  re- 
quired of  a  science  and  art  of  Education. 

I  return  to  the  greater  difflculty — namely,  the  ques- 
tion what  is  the  end  of  all  teaching  ;  or,  if  the  end  be 
human  happiness  and  perfection,  what  definite  guidance 
does  this  furnish  to  the  educator  ?  I  have  already  re- 
marked that  the  inquiry  is  acknowledged  to  belong  to 
other  departments ;  and,  if  in  these  departments  clear 
and  unanimous  answers  have  not  been  arrived  at,  the 
educationist  Is  not  bound  to  make  good  the  deficiency. 


THE   WORK   OF   THE   SCHOOL.  7 

For  this  emergency,  there  is  one  thing  obvious^ 
another  less  obvious;  the  two  together  exhausting  the 
resources  of  the  educator. 

The  obvious  thing  is  to  fix  upon  whatever  matters 
people  are  agreed  upon.  Of  such  the  number  is  con- 
siderable, and  the  instances  important.  They  make  the 
universal  topics  of  the  schools. 

The  less  obvious  thing  is,  with  reference  to  matters 
not  agreed  upon,  that  the  educator  should  set  forth  at 
what  cost  these  doubtful  acquisitions  would  have  to  be 
made  ;  for  the  cost  must  be  at  least  one  element  in  the 
decision  respecting  them.  Whoever  knows  most  about 
Education  is  best  able  to  say  how  far  its  appliances  can 
cope  with  such  aims  as  softening  the  manners,  securing 
self-renunciation,  bringing  about  the  balanced  action  of 
all  the  powers,  training  the  whole  man,  and  so  forth. 

We  shall  see  that  one  part  of  the  science  of  Educa- 
tion consists  in  giving  the  ultimate  analysis  of  all  com- 
plex growths.  It  is  on  such  an  analysis  that  the  cost 
can  be  calculated  ;  and,  by  means  of  this,  we  can  best 
observe  whether  contradictory  demands  are  made  upon 
the  educator. 

What  we  have  been  drifting  to,  in  our  search  for  an 
aim,  is  the  work  of  the  school.  This  may  want  a  little 
more  paring  and  rounding  to  give  it  scientific  form,  but 
it  is  the  thing  most  calculated  to  fix  and  steady  ouf 
vision  at  the  outset. 

Now,  for  the  success  of  the  schoolmaster's  work,  the 

first  and  central  fact  is  the  plastic  property  of  the  mind 

itself.     On  this  depends  the  acquisition  not  simply  of 

knowledge  but  of  everything  tiiat  can  be  called  an  ac- 

3 


8  DEFINITIONS   OF   EDUCATION, 

quisition.  The  most  patent  display  of  the  property  con- 
sists  in  memory  for  knowledge  imparted.  In  this  view 
the  leading  inquiry  in  the  art  of  Education  is  how  to 
strengthen  memory.  We  are  therefore  led  to  take 
account  of  the  several  mental  aptitudes  that  either 
directly  or  indirectly  enter  into  the  retentive  function. 
In  other  words,  we  must  draw  upon  the  science  of  the 
human  mind  for  whatever  that  science  contains  respect- 
ing the  conditions  of  memory. 

Although  memory,  acquisition,  retentiveness,  depends 
mainly  upon  one  unique  property  of  the  intellect,  which 
accordingly  demands  to  be  scrutinised  with  the  utmost 
care,  there  are  various  other  properties,  intellectual  and 
emotional,  that  aid  in  the  general  result,  and  to  each  of 
these  regard  must  be  had,  in  a  Science  of  Education. 

We  have  thus  obtained  the  clue  to  one  prime  division 
of  the  subject — the  purely  psychological  part.  Of  no 
less  consequence  is  another  department  at  present  with- 
out a  name — an  inquiry  into  the  proper  or  natural  order 
of  the  different  subjects,  grounded  on  their  relative 
simplicity  or  complexity,  and  their  mutual  dependence. 
It  is  necessary  to  success  in  Education  that  a  subject 
should  not  be  presented  to  the  pupil  until  all  the  pre- 
paratory subjects  have  been  mastered.  This  is  obvious 
enough  in  certain  cases  :  arithmetic  is  taken  before 
algebra,  geometry  before  trigonometry,  inorganic  che- 
mistry before  organic;  but  in  many  cases. the  proper 
order  is  obscured  by  circumstances,  and  is  an  affair  of 
very  delicate  consideration.  I  may  call  this  the  Analytic 
oi  Logical  branch  of  the  theory  of  Education. 

It  is  a  part  of  scientific  method  to  take  strict  account 
of  leading  terms,  by  a  thorough  and  exhaustive  inquiiy 


UNION   OF   EXPERIENCE   AND    THEORY.  9 

mto  the  meaninj^s  of  all  such.  The  settlement  of  many 
questions  relating  to  education  is  embarrassed  by  the 
vflf^eness  of  the  single  term  'discipline.' 

Further,  it  ought  to  be  pointed  out,  as  specially  ap- 
plicable to  our  present  subject,  that  the  best  attainable 
knowledge  on  anything  is  due  to  a  combination  of 
general  principles  obtained  from  the  sciences,  with  well- 
conducted  observations  and  experiments  made  in  actual 
practice.  On  every  great  question  there  should  be  a 
convergence  of  both  lights.  The  technical  expression 
for  this  is  '  the  union  of  the  Deductive  and  Inductive 
Methods.'  The  deductions  are  to  be  obtained  apart,  in 
their  own  way,  and  with  all  attainable  precision.  The 
inductions  are  the  maxims  of  practice — purified,  in  the 
first  instance,  by  wide  comparison  and  by  the  requisite 
precautions. 

I  thus  propose  to  remove  from  the  Science  of  Educa- 
tion matters  belonging  to  much  wider  departments  of 
human  conduct,  and  to  concentrate  the  view  upon  what 
exclusively  pertains  to  Education — the  means  of  build- 
ing up  the  acquired  powers  of  human  beings.  The  com- 
munication of  knowledge  is  the  ready  type  of  the  process 
but  the  training  operation  enters  into  parts  of  the  mind 
not  intellectual  — the  activities  and  the  emotions  ;  the 
same  forces,  however,  being  at  work. 

Education  docs  not  embrace  the  employment  oiall  our 
intellectual  functions.  There  is  a  different  art  for  directing 
the  faculties  in  productive  labour  ;  as,  for  example,  in  the 
professions,  in  the  original  investigations  of  the  man  of 
science,  in  the  creations  of  the  artist.  The  principles  of 
the  human  mind  arc  applicable  to  both  departments,  but 
although  the  two  come  into  occasional  contact,  they  are 


10  DEFINITIONS   OF   EDUCATION. 

SO  far  distinct  that  there  is  an  advantage  in  viewing 
them  separately.  In  the  practical  treatise  of  Locke, 
entitled  '  The  Conduct  of  the  Understanding,'  acquisi- 
tion,  production,    and    invention    are  handled   proniiss- 


CHAPTER   11. 

BEARINGS  OF  PHYSIOLOGY. 

The  science  of  Physiology,  coupled  with  the  accumu- 
lated empirical  observations  of  past  ages,  is  the  theo- 
retical guide  in  finding  out  how  to  rear  living  beings  to 
the  full  maturity  of  their  physical  powers.  This,  as  we 
have  said,  is  quite  distinct  frorft  the  process  of  Educa- 
tion. 

The  art  of  Education  assumes  a  certain  average 
physical  health,  and  does  not  inquire  into  the  means  of 
keeping  up  or  increasing  that  average.  Its  point  of 
contact  with  physiology  and  hygiene  is  narrowed  to  the 
plastic  or  acquisitive  function  of  the  brain — the  property 
of  cementing  the  nervous  connections  that  underlie 
memory,  habit,  and  acquired  power. 

But  as  Physiology  now  stands,  we  soon  come  to  the 
end  of  its  applications  to  the  husbanding  of  the  plastic 
faculty.  The  inquiry  must  proceed  upon  our  direct 
experience  in  the  work  of  education,  with  an  occasional 
check  or  caution  from  the  established  physiological  laws. 
Still,  it  would  be  a  forgetting  of  mercies  to  undervalue 
the  results  accruing  to  education  from  the  physiological 
doctrine  of  the  physical  basis  of  memory. 

On  this  subject,  physiology  teaches  the  general  fact 


12  BEARINGS   OF   PHYSIOLOGY. 

that  nicmory  reposes  upon  a  nervous  property  or  powefj 
sustained,  like  every  other  physical  power,  by  nutrition, 
and  having  its  alternations  of  exercise  and  rest.  It  also 
informs  us  that,  like  every  other  function,  the  plasti- 
city may  be  stunted  by  inaction,  and  impaired  by  over- 
exertion. 

As  far  as  pure  physiology  is  concerned,  I  would  draw 
attention  to  one  circumstance  in  particular.  The  human 
body  is  a  great  aggregate  of  organs  or  interests — diges- 
tion, respiration,  muscles,  senses,  brain.  When  fatigue 
overtakes  it,  the  organs  generally  suffer ;  when  renova- 
tion has  set  in,  the  organs  generally  are  invigorated. 
This  is  the  first  and  most  obvious  consequence.  We 
have  next  to  add  the  qualifying  consideration  that  human 
beings  are  unequally  cortstituted  as  regards  the  various 
functions  ;  some  being  strong  in  stomach,  others  in 
muscle,  others  in  brain.  In  all  such  persons  the  general 
invigoration  is  equally  shown ;  the  favoured  organs  re- 
ceive a  share  proportioned  to  their  respective  capitals : 
to  him  that  hath  shall  be  given.  Still  more  pertinent  is 
the  further  qualification,  that  the  organ  that  happens 
to  be  most  active  at  the  time  receives  more  than  its 
share ;  to  exercise  the  several  organs  unequally  is  to 
nourish  them  unequally. 

Now  comes  the  important  point.  To  increase  the 
plastic  property  of  the  mind,  you  must  nourish  the  brain. 
You  naturally  expect  that  this  result  will  ensue  when 
the  body  generally  is  nourished :  and  so  it  will,  if  there 
be  no  exorbitant  demands  on  the  part  of  other  organs, 
giving  them  such  a  preference  as  to  leave  very  little  for 
the  organ  of  the  mind.  If  the  muscles  or  the  digestion 
are  unduly  drawn  upon,  the  brain  will  not  respond  to 


BASIS   OF   THE  RETENTIVE   TOWER.  13 

the  drafts  made  upon  it.  Obversely,  if  the  brain  is  con- 
stituted  by  nature,  or  excited  by  stimulation,  so  as  to 
absorb  the  lion's  share  of  the  nutriment,  the  opposite 
results  will  appear  :  the  mental  functions  will  be  exalted, 
and  the  other  interests  more  or  less  impoverished.  This 
is  the  situation  for  an  abundant  display  of  mental 
force. 

But  we  must  further  distinguish  the  mental  functions 
themselves  ;  for  these  are  very  different  and  mutually 
exclusive.  Great  refinement  in  the  subdivisions  is  not 
necessary  for  the  illustration.  The  broadest  contrast  is 
the  emotional  and  the  intellectual — feeling  as  pleasure, 
pain,  or  excitement,  and  feeling  as  knowledge.  These 
two  in  extreme  manifestation  are  hostile  to  each  other : 
under  excessive  emotional  excitement  the  intellect 
suffers  ;  under  great  intellectual  exertion  the  emotions 
subside  (with  limitations  unnecessary  for  our  purpose). 

But  Intellect  in  the  largest  sense  is  not  identical  with 
the  retentive  or  plastic  operation.  The  laws  of  this 
peculiar  phase  of  our  intelligence  arc  best  obtained  by 
studying  it  as  a  purely  mental  fact.  Yet  there  is  a 
physiological  way  of  looking  at  it  that  is  strongly  con- 
firmative of  our  psychological  observations.  On  the 
physical  or  physiological  side,  memory  or  acquisition  is 
a  series  of  new  nerv'ous  growths,  the  establishment  of  a 
number  of  beaten  tracks  in  certain  lines  of  the  cerebral 
substance.  Now,  the  presumption  is,  that  as  regards  the 
claim  for  nourishment  this  is  the  most  costly  of  all  the 
processes  of  the  intelligence.  To  exeicise  a  power  once 
acquired  should  be  a  far  easier  thing,  much  less  expen- 
sive, than  to  build  up  a  new  acquirement.  We  may  be 
in  sufficiently  good  condition  for  the  one,  while  wholly 


14  BEARINGS   OF   PHYSIOLOGY. 

out  of  condition  for  the  other.  Indeed,  success  in  ac- 
quirement, looking  at  it  according  to  the  physiological 
probabilities,  should  be  the  work  of  rare,  choice,  and 
happy  moments :  times  when  cerebral  vigour  is  both 
'jhmidant  and  well-directed. 


CHAPTER   III. 
BEARINGS  OF  PSYCHOLOGY. 

The  largest  chapter  in  the  Science  of  Education  must 
be  the  following  out  of  all  the  psychological  laws  that 
bear  directly  or  indirectly  upon  the  process  of  mental 
acquirement.  Eveiy  branch  of  Psychology  will  be  found 
available ;  but  more  especially  the  Psychology  of  the 
Intellect.  Of  the  three  great  functions  of  the  Intellect, 
in  the  ultimate  analysis — Discrimination,  Agreement, 
Retentiveness — the  last  is  the  most  completely  identified 
with  the  educative  process;  but  the  others  enter  in  as 
constituents  in  a  way  peculiar  to  each. 

DISCRIMINATION. 

Mind  starts  from  Discrimination.  The  consciousness 
of  difference  is  the  beginning  of  every  intellectual  exer- 
cise. To  encounter  a  new  impression  is  to  be  aware  of 
change :  if  the  heat  of  a  room  increases  ten  degrees,  we 
are  awakened  to  the  circumstance  by  a  change  of  feel- 
ing ;  if  we  have  no  change  of  feeling,  no  altered  con- 
sciousness, the  outward  fact  is  lost  upon  us :  we  take  no 
notice  of  it,  we  are  said  not  to  know  it. 

Our  intelligence  is,  therefore,  absolutely  limited  by 
our  power  of  discrimination.    The  other  functions  of  in- 


l6  THE   INTfXLECT  :— DISCRIMINATION. 

tellect,  the  Retentive  power,  for  example,  are  not  called 
into  play,  until  we  have  first  discriminated  a  number  of 
things.  If  we  did  not  originally  feel  the  difference  be- 
tween light  and  dark,  black  and  white,  red  and  yellow, 
there  would  be  no  visible  scenes  for  us  to  remember : 
w  ith  the  amplest  endowment  of  Retentiveness,  the  outer 
world  could  not  enter  into  our  recollection  ;  the  blank 
of  sensation  is  a  blank  of  memory. 

Yet  further.  The  minuteness  or  delicacy  of  the  feel- 
ing of  difference  is  the  measure  of  the  variety  and  mul- 
titude of  our  primary  impressions,  and,  therefore,  of  our 
stored-up  recollections.  He  that  hears  only  twelve  dis- 
criminated notes  on  the  musical  scale,  has  his  remem- 
brance of  sounds  bounded  by  these ;  he  that  feels  a 
hundred  sensible  differences,  has  his  ideas  or  recollections 
of  sounds  multiplied  in  the  same  proportion.  •  The  re- 
tentive power  works  up  to  the  height  of  Uie  discrimina- 
tive power ;  it  can  do  no  more. 

We  have  by  nature  a  certain  power  of  discrimination 
in  each  department  of  our  sensibility.  We  can  from  the 
outset  discriminate,  more  or  less  delicately,  sights,  sounds, 
touches,  smells,  tastes  ;  and,  in  each  sense,  some  persons 
much  more  than  others.  This  is  the  deepest  foundation 
of  disparity  of  intellectual  character,  as  well  as  of  variety 
in  likings  and  pursuits.  If,  from  the  beginning,  one  man 
can  interpolate  five  shades  of  discrimination  of  colour 
where  another  can  feel  but  one  transition,  the  careers  of 
the  two  men  are  foreshadowed  and  will  be  widely  ap&rt. 

To  observe  this  native  inequality  is  important  in- 
predestining  the  child  to  this  or  that  line  of  special  train- 
ing. For  the  actual  work  of  teaching,  it  is  of  more  con- 
sequence to  note  the  ways  and  means  of  quickening  and 


CONDITIONS   OF   DISCRIMINATION.  17 

fncreasi'ng  the  discriminating  aptitude.  Bearing  in  mind 
the  fact  that,  until  a  difference  is  felt  between  two  things, 
intelligence  has  not  yet  made  the  first  step,  the  teacncr 
is  bound  to  consider  the  circumstances  or  conditions 
favourable  and  unfavourable  to  the  exercise. 

(i)  It  is  not  peculiar  to  discrimination,  but  is  com- 
mon to  every  intellectual  function,  to  lay  down,  as  a  first 
condition,  mental  vigour,  freshness,  and  wakefulness.  In 
a  low  state  of  the  mental  forces,  in  languor,  or  drowsi- 
ness, dift'erences  cannot  be  felt.  That  the  mind  should 
be  alive,  awake,  in  full  force  and  exercise,  is  necessary 
for  every  kind  of  mental  work.  The  teacher  needs  to 
quicken  the  mental  alertness  by  artificial  means  when 
there  is  a  dormancy  of  mere  indolence.  He  has  to 
waken  the  pupil  from  the  state  significantly  named  in- 
differencc,  the  state  where  differing  impressions  fail  to  be 
recognised  as  distinct. 

(2)  The  mind  may  be  fresh  and  alive,  but  its  ener- 
gies may  be  taking  the  wrong  direction.  There  is  a 
well-known  antithesis  or  opposition  between  the  emo- 
tional and  the  intellectual  activities,  leading  to  a  certain 
incompatibility  of  the  two.  Under  emotional  excite- 
ment, the  intellectual  energies  are  enfeebled  in  amount, 
and  enslaved  to  the  reigning  emotion.  It  is  in  the  quieter 
states  of  mind  that  discrimination,  in  common  with  other 
intellectual  powers,  works  to  advantage.  I  will  after- 
wards discuss  more  minutely  the  very  delicate  matter  of 
the  management  of  the  various  emotions  in  the  work  of 
teaching. 

(3)  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  intellectual  exer- 
cises are  in  themselves  essentially  insipid,  unattractive. 
As  exertion,  they  impart  a  certain  small  degree  of  the 


1 8  THE   INTELLECT: — DISCRIMINATION. 

deliglit  that  always  attends  the  healthy  action  of  an 
exuberant  facul*-y  ;  but  this  supposes  their  later  develop- 
ments, and  is  not  a  marked  peculiarity  in  the  child's 
commencing  career.  The  first  circumstance  that  gives 
an  interest  to  discrimination  is  pleasurable  or  painful 
stimulus.  Something  must  hang  on  a  difference  before 
the  mind  is  made  energetically  awake  to  it.  A  thoroughly 
uninteresting  difference  is  not  an  object  of  attention  to 
anyone. 

The  transitions  from  cold  to  hot.  dark  to  light,  strain 
to  relief,  hunger  to  repletion,  silence  to  sound,  are  all 
more  or  less  interesting,  and  more  or  less  impressive. 
But  then  they  are  vehement  and  sensational.  It  is  ne- 
cessary, in  order  to  the  furnishing  of  the  intelligence, 
that  smaller  and  less  sensational  transitions  should  be 
felt ;  the  intellectual  nature  is  characterized  by  requiring 
the  least  amount  of  emotional  flash  in  order  to  impress 
a  difference.  A  loud  and  furious  demonstration  will 
certainly  compel  attention  and  end  in  the  feeling  of 
difference,  but  at  too  much  cost. 

(4)  The  great  practical  aid  to  the  discovery  and  the 
retention  of  difference  is  immediate  succession,  or,  what 
comes  to  the  same  thing,  close  juxtaposition.  A  rapid 
transition  makes  evident  a  difference  that  would  not  be 
felt  after  an  interval,  still  less  if  anything  else  were 
allowed  to  occupy  the  mind  in  the  meantime.  This  fact 
is  sufficiently  obvious,  and  is  turned  to  account  in  easy 
cases  ;  but  is  far  from  being  thoroughly  worked  out  by 
the  teacher  and  the  expositor.  Any  trifling  diversion 
will  suffice  to  blind  us  to  its  importance. 

We  compare  two  notes  by  sounding  them  in  close 
succession  ;  two  shades  of  colour  by  placing  them  side 


DEVICE  OF  JUXTAPOSITION.  19 

by  side  ;  two  weights  by  holding  them  in  the  two  hands, 
and  attending  to  the  two  feelings  by  turns.  These  are 
the  plain  instances.  The  comparison  of  forms  leads  to 
complications,  and  we  cease  to  attempt  the  same  kind 
of  comparison.  For  mere  length  we  lay  the  two  things 
alongside  ;  so  for  an  angle.  For  number,  we  can  place 
two  groups  in  contiguous  rows — three  by  the  side  of  f9ur 
or  five— -and  observe  the  surplus. 

Mere  size  is  an  affair  of  simple  juxtaposition.  Form, 
irrespective  of  size,  is  less  approachable.  A  triangle  and 
a  quadrangle  are  compared  by  counting  the  sides,  and 
resolving  the  difference  of  form  into  the  simpler  element 
of  difference  of  number,  A  right-angled,  an  acute-angled, 
an  isosceles  triangle,  must  be  compared  by  the  juxta- 
position of  angles.  A  circle  and  an  oval  are  contrasted  by 
the  curvature  and  the  diameters ;  in  the  one,  the  curva- 
ture uniform,  and  the  diameters  equal ;  in  the  other,  the 
curvature  varymg,  and  the  diameters  unequal.  The  dif- 
ference between  a  close  and  an  open  curve  is  palpable 
enough. 

The  geometrical  forms  are  thus  resolvable  into  very 
simple  bases  of  comparison  ;  and  the  teacher  must  ana- 
lyze them  in  the  manner  now  stated.  For  the  irregular 
and  capricious  forms,  the  elementary  conceptions  are 
still  the  same — lineal  size,  number,  angular  size,  curva- 
ture ;  but  the  mode  of  guiding  the  attention  may  be 
various.  Sometimes  there  is  a  strong  and  overpowering 
similarity,  with  a  small  and  unconspicuous  difference,  as 
in  our  ciphers  (compare  3  and  5),  and  in  the  letters  of 
our  alphabet  (C,  G),  and  still  more  in  the  Hebrew  alpha- 
bet. For  such  comparisons,  the  difference,  such  as  it  is, 
needs  to  be  very  clearly  drawn  or  even  exaggerated. 


20  THE   INTELLECT: — RETENTIVENESS. 

Another  method  is  to  have  models  of  the  same  size  to 
lay  over  one  another,  so  as  to  bring  out  the  difference 
through  juxtaposition.  By  a  specific  effort,  the  teacher 
calls  on  the  learner  to  view,  with  single-minded  atten- 
tion, the  differing  circumstance,  and  afterwards  to  re- 
produce it  by  his  own  hand.  One  express  lesson  consists 
in  asking  the  pupil  what  are  the  ciphers,  or  the  letters, 
that  are  nearly  alike,  and  what  are  the  points  of  dif- 
ference. 

The  liigher  arts  of  comparison  to  impress  difference 
are  best  illustrated  when  both  differences  and  agreements 
have  to  be  noted.  They  will  have  to  be  resumed  after 
the  discussion  of  the  intellectual  force  of  Agreement  or 
Similarity,  The  chief  stress  of  the  present  explanation 
lies  in  regarding  Discrimination  as  the  necessary  prelude 
of  every  intellectual  impression,  as  the  basis  of  our  stored- 
up  knowledge,  or  memory.  Agreement  is  presupposed 
likewise  ;  but  there  is  not  the  same  necessity,  nor  is  it 
expedient,  to  follow  out  the  workings  of  Agreement, 
before  considering  the  plastic  power  of  the  intellect. 

THE   RETENTIVE   FACULTY. 

This  is  the  faculty  that  most  of  all  concerns  us  in 
the  work  of  Education.  On  it  rests  the  possibility  of 
mental  growths ;  in  other  words,  capabilities  not  given 
by  nature. 

Every  impression  made  upon  us,  if  sufficient  to 
awaken  consciousness  at  the  time,  has  a  certain  perma- 
nence ;  it  can  persist  after  the  original  ceases  to  work ; 
and  it  can  be  restored  afterwards  as  an  idea  or  remem- 
bered impression.     The  bursting  out  of  a  flame  arouses 


FIRST   LAW   OF   MEMORY.  21 

out  attention,  gives  a  strong  visible  impression,  and 
becomes  an  idea  or  deposit  of  memory.  The  flame  is 
thought  of  afterwards  without  being  actually  seen. 

It  is  not  often  that  one  single  occurrence  leaves  a 
permanent  and  recoverable  idea  ;  usually,  we  need  several 
repetitions  for  the  purpose.  The  process  of  fijcing  the 
impression  occupies  a  certain  length  of  time  ;  either  we 
must  prolong  the  first  shock,  or  renew  it  on  several 
successive  occasions.  This  is  the  first  law  of  Memory, 
Retention,  or  Acquisition  :  '  Practice  makes  perfection  ;' 
•  Exercise  is  the  means  of  strengthening  a  faculty  ;* 
and  so  forth.  The  good  old  rule  of  the  schoolmaster 
is  simply  to  make  the  pupil  repeat,  rehearse,  or  persist 
at,  a  lesson,  until  it  is  learnt. 

All  improvement  in  the  art  of  teaching  depends  on 
the  attention  that  we  give  to  the  various  circumstances 
that  facilitate  acquirement,  or  lessen  the  number  of  repe- 
titions for  a  given  effect.  Much  is  possible  in  the  way 
of  economizing  the  plastic  power  of  the  human  system  ; 
and  when  we  have  pushed  this  economy  to  the  utmost, 
we  have  made  perfect  the  Art  of  Education  in  one  lead- 
ing department.  It  is  thus  necessary  that  the  considera- 
tion of  all  the  known  conditions  that  favour  or  impede 
the  plastic  growth  of  the  system  should  be  searching  and 
minute 

Although  some  philosophers  have  taught  that  all 
minds  are  nearly  equal  in  regard  to  facility  of  acquire- 
ment, a  schoolmaster  that  would  say  so  must  be  of  the 
very  rudest  type.  The  inequality  of  different  minds  in 
imbibing  lessons,  under  the  very  same  circumstances, 
is  a  glaring  fact ;  and  is  one  of  the  obstacles  encoun- 
tered in  teaching  numbers  together,  that  is,  classes.     It 


22  THE   INTELLECT  :—RETENTIVENESS. 

is  a  difficulty  that  needs  a  great  deal  of  practical  tact  or 
management,  and  is  not  met  by  any  educational  theory. 
The  different  kinds  of  acquirements  vary  in  minor 
circumstances,  which  call  for  notice  after  we  have  ex- 
Jiausted  the  general  or  pervading  conditions.  The 
greatest  contrast  is  between  what  belongs  to  Intelligence, 
and  what  belongs  to  the  Feelings  and  the  Will.  The 
more  strictly  Intellectual  department  comprises  Mecha- 
nical Art,  Language,  the  Sensible  World,  the  Sciences. 
Fine  Art ;  each  having  their  specialities. 

General  Circumstances  Favouring  Retentivcness, 

I.  The  Physical  condition.  This  has  been  already 
touched  upon,  both  in  the  review  of  Physiology,  and  in 
the  remarks  on  Discrimination.  It  includes  general 
health,  vigour,  and  freshness  at  the  moment,  together 
with  the  further  indispensable  proviso,  that  the  nutrition, 
instead  of  being  drafted  off  to  strengthen  the  mere  phy- 
sical functions,  is  allowed  to  run  in  good  measure  to  the 
brain. 

In  the  view  of  mental  efficiency,  the  muscular  system, 
the  digestive  system,  and  the  various  organic  interests, 
are  to  be  exercised  up  to  the  point  that  conduces  to  the 
maximum  of  general  vigour  in  the  system^  and  no 
farther.  They  may  be  carried  farther  in  the  interest  of 
sensual  enjoyment,  but  that  is  not  now  before  us.  Hence 
a  man  must  exercise  his  muscles,  must  feed  himself  libe- 
rally, and  give  time  to  digestion  to  do  its  work,  must  rest 
adequately — all  for  the  greatest  energy  of  the  mind,  and 
for  the  trying  work  of  education  in  particular.  Nor  is  it 
so  very  difficult;  in  the  present  state  of  physiological  and 


PHYSICAL  SUPPORT  OF  RETENTIVENESS.  2$ 

medical  knowledge,  to  assign  the  reasonable  proportions 
in  all  these  matters,  for  a  given  case. 

Everything  tends  to  show  that,  in  the  mere  physical 
point  of  view,  the  making  of  impressions  on  the  brain, 
although  never  remitted  during  any  of  our  waking 
moments,  is  exceedingly  unequal  at  different  times.  We 
must  be  well  aware  that  there  are  moments  when  we  are 
incapable  of  receiving  any  lasting  impressions,  and  that 
there  are  moments  when  we  are  unusually  susceptible. 
The  difference  is  not  one  wholly  resolvable  into  more 
mental  energy  on  the  whole  ;  we  may  have  a  considerable 
reserve  offeree  for  other  mental  acts,  as  the  performance 
of  routine  offices,  and  not  much  for  retaining  new  im- 
pressions ;  we  are  capable  of  reading,  talking,  writing, 
and  of  taking  an  interest  in  the  exercises ;  we  may  in- 
dulge emotions,  and  carry  out  pursuits,  and  yet  not  be 
in  a  state  for  storing  the  memory,  or  amassing  know- 
ledge. Even  the  incidents  that  we  take  part  in  some- 
times fail  to  be  remembered  beyond  a  very  short  time. 

What,  then,  is  there  so  very  remarkable  and  unique 
in  the  physical  support  of  the  plastic  property  of  the 
brain }  What  are  the  moments  when  it  is  at  the  pleni- 
tude of  its  efficiency  ?  What  are  the  things  that  espe- 
cially nourish  and  conserve  it } 

Although  there  is  still  wanting  a  careful  study  of 
this  whole  subject,  the  patent  facts  appear  to  justify  us 
in  asserting,  that  the  plastic  or  retentive  function  is  the 
very  highest  energy  of  the  brain,  the  consummation  of 
nervous  activity.  To  drive  home  a  new  bent,  to  render 
an  impression  self-sustaining  and  recoverable,  uses  up 
(we  may  suppose)  more  brain  force  than  any  other  kind 
of  mental  exercise.     The  moments  of  susceptibility  to 

4 


24  THE   INTELLECT  : — RETENTIVENESS. 

the  storing  up  of  knowledge,  to  the  engraining  of  habits 
and  acquisitions,  are  thus  the  moments  of  the  maximum 
of  unexpended  force.  The  circumstances  need  to  be 
such  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  highest  manifestation 
of  cerebral  energy;  including  the  perfect  freshness  of 
the  system,  and  the  absence  of  everything  that  would 
speedily  impair  it. 

To  illustrate  this  position,  I  may  refer  to  the  kind  of 
mental  work  that  appears  to  be  second  in  its  demand  on 
the  energy  of  the  brain.  The  exercise  of  mental  con- 
structiveness — the  solving  of  new  problems,  the  applying 
of  rules  to  new  cases,  the  intellectual  labour  of  the  more 
arduous  professions,  as  the  law — demands  no  little  men- 
tal strain,  and  is  easy  according  to  the  brain  vigour  of 
the  moment.  Still,  these  are  exercises  that  can  be  per- 
formed with  lower  degrees  of  power ;  we  are  capable  of 
such  professional  work  in  moments  when  our  memory 
would  not  take  in  new  and  lasting  impressions.  In  old 
age,  when  we  cease  to  be  educable  in  any  fresh  endow- 
ment, we  can  still  perform  these  constructive  exercises  ; 
we  can  grapple  with  new  questions,  invent  new  argu- 
ments and  illustrations,  decide  what  should  be  done  in 
original  emergencies. 

The  constructive  energy  has  all  degrees,  from  the 
highest  flights  of  invention  and  imagination  down  to  the 
point  where  construction  shades  off  into  literal  repetition 
of  what  has  formerly  been  done.  The  preacher  in  com- 
posing a  fresh  discourse  puts  forth  more  or  less  of  con- 
structiveness :  in  repeating  prayers  and  formularies,  in 
reading  from  book,  there  is  only  reminiscence.  This  last 
is  the  third  and  least  exigent  form  of  mental  energy ;  it 
is  possible  in  the  very  lowest  states  of  cerebral  vigour. 


INFERIOR  MODES  OF  MENTAL  ENERGY.  2$ 

When  acquisition  is  fruitless,  construction  is  possible  ; 
when  a  slight  departure  from  the  old  routine  passes 
the  might  of  the  intelligence,  literal  reminiscence  may 
operate. 

Another  mode  of  mental  energy  that  we  are  equal 
to,  when  the  freshness  of  our  susceptibility  to  new  growths 
has  gone  off,  is  searching  and  noting.  This  needs  a  cer- 
tain strain  of  attention ;  it  is  not  possible  in  the  very 
lowest  tide  of  the  nervous  flow ;  but  it  may  be  carried 
on  with  all  but  the  smallest  degrees  of  brain  power. 
When  the  scholar  or  the  man  of  science  ceases  to  trust 
his  memory  implicitly  for  retaining  new  facts  that. occur 
in  his  reading,  observation,  or  reflection,  he  can  still  keep 
a  watch  for  them,  and  enter  them  in  his  notes.  So  in 
the  hours  of  the  day  when  memory  is  less  to  be  trusted, 
useful  study  may  still  be  maintained  by  the  help  of  the 
memorandum  and  the  note-book. 

The  indulgence  of  the  emotions  (when  not  violent  oi 
excessive)  is  about  the  least  expensive  of  our  mental 
exercises,  and  may  go  on  when  we  are  unfit  for  any  of 
the  higher  intellectual  moods,  least  of  all  for  the  crown- 
ing work  of  storing  up  new  knowledge  or  new  aptitudes. 
There  are  degrees  here  also ;  but,  speaking  generally,  to 
love  or  to  hate,  to  dominate  or  to  worship,  although  im- 
possible in  the  lowest  depths  of  debility,  are  within  the 
scope  of  the  inferior  grades  of  nervous  power. 

From  this  estimate  of  comparative  outlay,  we  may 
judge  what  are  the  times  and  seasons  and  circumstances 
most  favourable  to  the  work  of  acquirement.  It  may 
be  assumed  that  in  the  early  part  of  the  day  the  total 
energy  of  the  system  is  at  its  height,  and  that  towards 
evening  it  flags ;  hence  morning  is  the  season  of  im- 


26  THE   INTELLECT  : — RETENTIVENESS. 

provement  For  two  or  three  hours  after  the  first  meal, 
the  strength  is  probably  at  the  highest ;  total  remission 
for  another  hour  or  two,  and  a  second  meal  (with  phy- 
sical exercise  when  the  labour  has  been  sedentary),  pre- 
pare for  a  second  display  of  vigour,  although  presumably 
not  equal  to  the  first,  except  in  youthful  years ;  when 
the  edge  of  this  is  worn  off,  there  may,  after  a  pause,  be 
another  bout  of  application,  but  far  inferior  in  result  to 
the  first  or  even  to  the  second.  No  severe  effort  should 
be  attempted  in  this  last  stage ;  not  much  stress  should 
be  placed  on  the  available  plasticity  of  the  system, 
although  the  constructive  and  routine  efforts  may  still 
be  kept  up. 

The  regular  course  of  the  day  may  be  interfered  with 
by  exceptional  circumstances,  but  these  only  confirm 
the  rule.  If  we  have  lain  idle  or  inactive  for  the  early 
hours,  we  may,  of  course,  be  fresher  in  the  evening,  but 
the  late  application  will  not  make  up  for  the  loss  of  the 
early  hours ;  the  nervous  energy  will  gradually  subside 
as  the  day  advances,  however  little  exertion  we  may 
make.  Again,  we  may  at  any  time  determine  an  out- 
burst of  nervous  energy  by  persistent  exercise  and  by 
stimulation,  which  draws  blood  to  the  brain,  without 
regard  to  circumstances  and  seasons,  but  this  is  wasteful 
in  itself  and  disturbing  to  the  healthy  functions. 

As  a  general  rule,  the  system  is  at  its  greatest  vigour 
in  the  cold  season  of  the  year ;  and  most  work  is  done 
in  winter.  Summer  studies  are  comparatively  unpro- 
diictive. 

The  review  of  the  varying  plasticity  in  the  different 
stages  of  life  might  be  conducted  on  the  same  plan  of 
estimating  the  collective  forces  of  the  system,  and  the 


CONCENTRATION.  2/ 

share  of  these  available  for  brain  work,  but  other  circum- 
stances have  to  be  taken  into  the  account,  and  I  do  not 
enter  upon  the  question  here. 

There  are  many  details  in  the  economy  of  the  plastic 
power  that  have  a  physical  as  well  as  a  mental  aspect 
Such  are  those  relating  to  the  strain  and  remission  of 
the  Attention,  to  the  pauses  and  alternations  during  the 
times  of  drill,  to  the  moderating  of  the  nervous  excite- 
ment, and  other  matters.  These  should  all  find  a  place 
under  the  head  of  the  Retentive  function.  It  is  expe- 
dient now  to  take  up  the  consideration  of  the  subject 
from  the  purely  mental  side. 

2.  The  one  circumstance  that  sums  up  all  the 
mental  aids  to  plasticity  is  Concentration.  A  cer- 
tain expenditure  of  nervous  power  is  involved  in  every 
adhesion,  every  act  of  impressing  the  memory,  ever}' 
communicated  bias ;  and  the  more  the  better.  This 
supposes,  however,  that  we  should  withdraw  the  forces, 
for  the  time,  from  every  other  competing  exercise  ;  and 
especially,  that  we  should  redeem  all  wasting  expendi- 
ture for  the  purpose  in  view. 

It  is  requisite,  therefore,  that  the  circumstances  lead- 
ing to  the  concentration  of  the  mind  should  be  well 
understood.  We  assume  that  there  is  power  available 
for  the  occasion,  and  we  seek  to  turn  it  into  the  proper 
channel.  Now,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  will  is  the 
chief  intervening  influence,  and  the  chief  stimulants  of 
the  will  are,  as  we  know,  pleasure  and  pain.  This  is  the 
rough  view  of  the  case.  A  little  more  precision  is  attain- 
able through  our  psychological  knowledge. 

And  first,  the  Will  itself  as  an  operating  or  directing 
power,  that  is  tc  say,  the  moving  of  the  organs  in  a  given 


28  THE   intellect: — RETENTIVENESS. 

way  under  a  motive,  is  a  growth  or  culture ;  it  is  very- 
imperfect  at  first,  and  improves  by  usage.  A  child  of 
twelve  months  cannot  by  any  inducement  be  prompted 
readily  to  clap  its  hands,  to  point  with  its  forefinger,  to 
touch  the  tip  of  its  nose,  to  move  its  left  shoulder  for- 
ward. The  most  elementary  acts  of  the  will,  the  alphabet 
of  all  the  higher  acquisitions,  have  first  to  be  learned  in 
a  way  of  their  own  ;  and  until  they  have  attained  a  suffi- 
cient advancement,  so  as  to  be  amenable  to  the  spur  of 
a  motive,  the  teacher  has  nothing  to  go  upon. 

I  have  elsewhere  described  this  early  process,  as  I 
conceive  it,  in  giving  an  account  of  the  development  of 
the  Will.  In  the  practice  of  education,  it  is  a  matter  of 
importance  as  showing  at  what  time  mechanical  instruc- 
tion is  possible,  and  what  impedes  its  progress  at  the 
outset,  notwithstanding  the  abundance  of  plasticity  in 
the  brain  itself.  The  disciplining  of  the  organs  to  follow 
directions  would  seem  to  be  the  proper  province  of  the 
Infant  school. 

Coming  now  to  the  influences  of  concentration,  we 
assign  the  first  place  to  intrinsic  charm,  or  pleasure  in  the 
act  itself.  The  law  of  the  Will,  on  its  side  of  greatest 
potency,  is — that  Pleasure  sustains  the  movement  that 
brings  it.  The  whole  force  of  the  mind  at  the  moment 
goes  with  the  pleasure-giving  exercise.  The  harvest  of 
immediate  pleasure  stimulates  our  most  intense  exer- 
tions, if  exertion  serves  to  prolong  the  blessing.  So  it  is 
with  the  deepening  of  an  impression,  the  confirming  of  a 
bent  or  bias,  the  associating  of  a  couple  or  a  sequence  of 
acts ;  a  coinciding  burst  of  joy  awakens  the  attention, 
and  thus  leads  to  an  enduring  stamp  on  the  mentaJ 
framework 


CONCENTRATION   UNDER   PLEASURE.  29 

The  engraining  efficiency  of  the  pleasurable  motive 
requires  not  only  that  we  should  not  be  carried  off  into  an 
accustomed  routine  of  voluntary  activities,  such  as  to  give 
to  the  forces  another  direction,  as  when  we  pace  to  and 
fro  in  a  flower  garden  ;  but  also  that  the  pleasure  shouUl 
not  be  intense  and  tumultuous.  The  law  of  the  mutual 
exclusion  of  great  pleasure  and  great  intellectual  exer- 
tion forbids  the  employment  of  too  much  excitement  of 
any  kind,  when  we  aim  at  the  most  exacting  of  all 
mental  results — the  forming  of  new  adhesive  growths. 
A  gentle  pleasure  that  for  the  time  contents  us,  there 
being  no  great  temptation  at  hand,  is  the  best  foster- 
mother  of  our  efforts  at  learning.  Still  better,  if  it  be 
a  growing  pleasure ;  a  small  beginnings  with  steady  in- 
crease, never  too  absorbing,  is  the  best  of  all  stimulants 
to  mental  power.  In  order  to  have  a  yet  wider  compass 
of  stimulation,  without  objectionable  extremes,  we  might 
begin  on  the  negative  side^  that  is,  in  pain  or  privation, 
to  be  gradually  remitted  in  the  course  of  the  studious 
exercise,  giving  place  at  last  to  the  exhilaration  of  a 
waxing  pleasure.  All  the  great  teachers,  from  Socrates 
downwards,  seem  to  recognize  the  necessity  of  putting 
the  learner  into  a  state  of  pain  to  begin  with  ;  a  fact 
that  we  are  by  no  means  to  exult  over,  although  we  may 
have  to  admit  the  stem  truth  that  is  in  it.  The  influence 
of  pain,  however,  takes  a  wider  range  than  is  here  sup- 
posed, as  will  be  seen  under  our  next  head. 

A  moderate  exhilaration  and  cheerfulness  growing 
out  of  the  act  of  learning  itself  is  certainly  the  most 
genial,  the  most  effectual  means  of  cementing  the  unions 
that  we  desire  to  form  in  the  mind.  This  is  meant  when 
we  speak  of  the  learner  having  a  taste  for  his  pursuitv 


30  THE  INTELLECT: — RETENTIVENESS. 

having  the  heart  in  it,  learning  con  amove.  The  fact  is 
perfectly  well  known  ;  the  error,  in  connection  with  it, 
lies  in  dictating  or  enjoining  this  state  of  mind  on  every- 
body in  every  situation,  as  if  it  could  be  commanded  by 
a  wish,  or  as  if  it  were  not  itself  an  expensive  endow- 
ment. The  brain  cannot  yield  an  exceptional  pleasure 
without  charging  for  it. 

Next  to  pleasure  in  the  actual,  as  a  concentrating 
motive,  is  pleasure  in  prospect,  the  learning  of  what  is  to 
bring  us  some  future  gratification.  The  stimulus  has  the 
inferiority  attaching  to  the  idea  of  pleasure  as  compared 
-with  the  reality.  Still  it  may  be  of  various  degrees,  and 
may  rise  to  a  considerable  pitch  of  force.  Parents  often 
reward  their  children  with  coins  for  success  in  their 
lessons  ;  the  conception  of  the  pleasure  in  this  case  is 
nearly  equal  to  a  present  tremor  of  sense-delight.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  promises  of  fortune  and  distinction, 
after  a  long  interval  of  years,  have  seldom  much  influ- 
ence in  concentrating  the  mind  towards  a  particular 
study. 

Let  us  now  view  the  operation  of  Pain.  By  the  law  of 
the  will,  pain  makes  us  recoil  from  the  thing  that  causes 
it.  A  painful  study  repels  us,  just  as  an  agreeable  one 
attracts  and  detains  us.  The  only  way  that  pain  can 
operate  is  when  it  is  attached  to  neglect,  or  to  departure 
from  the  prescribed  subject ;  we  then  find  pleasure,  by 
comparison,  in  sticking  to  our  task.  This  is  the  theory 
of  punishing  the  want  of  application.  It  is  in  every  way 
inferior  to  the  other  motives  ;  and  this  inferiority  should 
be  always  kept  in  view  in  employing  it,  as  indeed  every 
teacher  must  often  do  with  the  generality  of  scholars. 
Pain  is  a  waste  of  brain-power ;  while  the  work  of  the 


CONCENTRATION   UNDER  PAIN.  3 1 

learner  needs  the  very  highest  form  of  this  power. 
Punishment  works  at  a  heavy  percentage  of  deduction, 
which  is  still  greater  as  it  passes  into  the  well-defined 
form  of  terror.  Everyone  has  experienced  cases  where 
severity  has  rendered  a  pupil  utterly  incapable  of  the 
work  prescribed. 

Discarding  all  d,  priori  theories  as  to  whether  the 
human  mind  can  be  led  on  to  study  by  an  ingenious 
system  of  pleasurable  attractions,  we  are  safe  to  affirm 
that  if  the  physical  conditions  are  properly  regarded,  if 
the  work  is  within  the  compass  of  the  pupil's  faculties, 
and  if  a  fair  amount  of  assistance  is  rendered  in  the  way 
of  intelligible  direction,  although  some  sort  of  pain  will 
frequently  be  necessary,  it  ought  not  to  be  so  great  as 
to  damp  the  spirits  and  waste  the  plastic  energy. 

The  line  of  remark  is  exactly  the  same  for  pain  in 
prospect,  with  allowance  for  the  difference  between 
reality  and  the  idea.  It  is  well  when  prospective  pain 
has  the  power  of  a  motive,  because  the  future  bad  con- 
sequences of  neglect  are  so  various  and  so  considerable, 
as  to  save  the  resort  to  any  other.  But  since  the  young 
intelligence  in  general  is  weak  in  the  sense  of  futurity, 
whether  for  good  or  for  evil,  none  but  very  near,  very 
intelligible,  and  very  certain  pains  can  take  the  place  of 
presently  acting  deterrents. 

In  the  study  of  the  human  mind,  we  need,  for  many 
purposes,  to  draw  a  subtle  distinction  between  feeling  as 
Pleasure  or  Pain,  and  feeling  as  Excitement  not  neces- 
sarily pleasurable  or  painful.  This  subtlety  cannot  be 
dispensed  with  in  our  present  subject.  There  is  a  form 
of  mental  concentration  that  is  properly  termed  excite- 
ment, and  is  not  properly  termed  pleasurable  or  painful 


32  THE  INTELLECT: — RETENTIVENESS. 

excitement.  A  loud  or  sudden  shock,  a  rapid  whirling 
movement,  stirs,  wakens,  or  excites  us  ;  it  may  also  give 
us  pleasure  or  pain,  but  it  may  be  perfectly  neutral ;  and 
even  when  there  is  pleasure  or  pain,  there  is  an  influence 
apart  from  what  would  belong  to  pleasure  or  pain,  as 
such.  A  state  of  excitement  seizes  hold  of  the  mind  for 
tlie  time  being  and  shuts  out  other  mental  occupations ; 
we  are  engrossed  with  the  subject  that  brought  on  the 
state,  and  are  not  amenable  to  extraneous  influences, 
until  that  has  subsided.  Hence,  excitement  is  pre- 
eminently a  means  of  making  an  impression,  of  stamp- 
ing an  idea  in  the  mind  :  it  is  strictly  an  intellectual 
stimulus.  There  is  still  the  proviso  (under  the  general 
law  of  incompatibility  of  the  two  opposite  moods)  that 
the  excitement  must  not  be  violent  and  wasting.  In 
well-understood  moderation,  excitement  is  identical  with 
attention,  mental  engrossment,  the  concentration  of  the 
forces  upon  the  plastic  or  cementing  operation,  the  ren- 
dering permanent  as  a  recollection  what  lies  in  the  focus 
of  the  blaze.  Excitement,  so  defined,  is  worthless  as  an 
end,  but  is  valuable  as  a  means  ;  and  that  means  is  the 
furtherance  of  our  mental  improvement  by  driving  home 
some  useful  concatenation  of  ideas. 

Another  subtlety  remains — a  distinction  within  a 
distinction.  After  contrasting  feeling  as  excitement 
with  feeling  as  pleasure  or  pain,  we  must  separate  the 
useful  from  the  useless  or  even  pernicious  modes  of 
excitement.  The  useful  excitement  is  what  is  narrowed 
and  confined  to  the  subject  to  be  impressed  ;  the  useless, 
and  worse  than  useless,  excitement  is  what  spreads  far 
and  wide,  and  embraces- nothing  in  particular.  It  is 
easy  to  get  up  the  last-named  species  of  excitement — 


CONCENTRATION   UNDER  EXCITEMENT.  S^ 

the  vague,  scattered,  and  tumultuous  mode — but  this  is 
not  of  avail  for  any  set  purpose ;  it  may  be  counted 
rather  as  a  distracting  agency  than  as  a  means  of  calling 
forth  and  concentrating  the  attention  upon  an  exercise. 

The  true  excitement  for  the  purpose  in  view  is  what 
grows  out  of  the  very  subject  itself,  embracing  and  ad- 
hering to  that  subject.  Now,  for  this  kind  of  excitement, 
the  recipe  is  continuous  application  of  the  mind  in  per- 
fect outside  stillness.  Restrain  all  other  solicitation  of 
the  senses,  keep  the  attention  upon  the  one  act  to  be 
learnt ;  and,  by  the  law  of  nervous  and  mental  persist- 
ence, the  currents  of  the  brain  will  become  gradually 
stronger  and  stronger,  until  they  have  reached  the  point 
when  they  do  no  more  good  for  the  time.  This  is  the 
ideal  of  concentration  by  neutral  excitement. 

The  enemy  of  such  happy  neutrality  is  pleasure  from 
without ;  and  the  youthful  mind  cannot  resist  the  dis- 
traction of  a  present  pleasure,  or  even  the  scent  of  a  far- 
off  pleasure.  The  schoolroom  is  purposely  screened  from 
the  view  of  what  is  going  on  outside  ;  while  all  internal 
incidents  that  hold  out  pleasurable  diversion  are  care- 
fully restrained,  at  least  during  the  crisis  of  a  difficult 
lesson.  A  touch  of  pain,  or  the  apprehension  of  it,  if 
only  slight,  is  not  unfavourable  to  the  concentration. 

An  important  point  is  still  to  be  observed,  namely, 
that  relationship  of  Retention  to  Discrimination  that 
was  stated  in  introducing  the  function  of  Discrimination 
The  consideration  of  this  relationship  illustrates  with 
still  greater  point  the  true  character  of  the  excitement 
that  concentrates  and  does  not  either  distract  or  dissipate 
the  energies.  The  moment  of  a  delicate  discrimination 
is  the  moment  when  the  intellectual  force  is  dominant ; 


34  THE   INTELLECT: — RETENTIVENESS. 

emotion  spurns  nice  distinctions,  and  incapacitates  the 
mind  for  feeling  them.  The  quiescence  and  stillness  of 
the  emotions  enables  the  mind  to  give  its  full  energies 
to  the  intellectual  processes  generally  ;  and  of  these,  the 
fundamental  is  perception  of  difference.  Now,  the  more 
mental  force  we  can  throw  into  the  act  of  noting  a  differ- 
ence, the  better  is  that  difference  felt,  and  the  better  it  is 
impressed.  The  same  act  that  favours  discrimination, 
favours  retention.  The  two  cannot  be  kept  separate. 
No  law  of  the  intellect  appears  to  be  more  certain  than 
the  law  that  connects  our  discriminating  power  with  our 
retentive  power.  In  whatever  class  of  subjects  our  dis- 
crimination is  great — colours,  forms,  tones,  tastes — in 
that  class  our  retention  is  great.  Whenever  the  atten- 
tion can  be  concentrated  on  a  subject  in  such  a  way  as 
to  make  us  feel  all  its  delicate  lineaments,  which  is 
another  way  of  stating  the  sense  of  differences,  through 
that  very  circumstance  a  great  impression  is  made  on 
the  memory ;  there  is  no  more  favourable  moment  for 
engraining  a  recollection. 

The  perfection  of  neutral  excitement,  therefore,  is 
typified  by  the  intense  rousing  of  the  forces  in  an  act,  or 
a  series  of  acts,  of  discrimination.  If  by  any  means  we 
can  succeed  in  this,  we  are  sure  that  the  other  intellec- 
tual consequences  will  follow.  It  is  a  rare  and  difficult 
attainment  in  childhood  and  early  youth  :  the  conditions, 
positive  and  negative,  for  its  highest  consummation  can- 
not readily  be  had.  Yet  we  should  know  what  these 
conditions  are ;  and  the  foregoing  attempt  has  been 
made  to  seize  and  embody  them. 

Pleasure  and  pain,  besides  operating  in  their  own 
character,  that  is,  besides  directing  the  voluntary  actions, 


SHARPNESS  OF  TRANSITION.  35 

have  a  power  as  mere  excitement,  or  as  wakening  up 
the  mental  blaze,  during  which  all  mental  acts,  including 
the  impressing  of  the  memory,  are  more  effective.  The 
distinction  must  still  be  drawn  between  concentrated 
and  diffused  excitement,  between  excitement  in,  and  ex- 
citement away  from,  the  work  to  be  done.  Pleasure  is 
the  more  favourable  adjunct,  if  not  too  great.  Pain  is 
the  more  stimulating  or  exciting :  under  a  painful  smart 
the  forces  are  very  rapidly  quickened  for  all  purposes, 
until  we  reach  the  point  of  wasteful  dissipation.  This 
brings  us  round  again  to  the  Socratic  position,  the  pre- 
paring of  the  learner's  mind  by  the  torpedo  or  the  gad-fly. 

The  full  compass  of  the  operation  of  the  painful 
stimulant  is  well  shown  in  some  of  our  most  familiar 
experiences  as  learners.  In  committing  a  lesson  to 
memory,  we  con  it  a  number  of  times  by  the  book :  we 
then  try  without  the  book.  We  fail  utterly,  and  are 
slightly  pained  by  the  failure.  We  go  back  to  the  book, 
and  once  more  we  try  without  it.  We  still  fail,  but  rack 
the  memory  to  recover  the  lost  trains.  The  pains  of 
failure  and  the  act  of  straining  stimulate  the  forces  ;  the 
attention  is  roused  seriously  and  energetically.  The 
next  reference  to  the  book  finds  us  far  more  receptive 
of  the  impression  to  be  made  ;  the  weak  links  are  now 
reinforced  with  avidity,  and  the  next  trial  shows  the 
value  of  the  discipline  that  has  been  undergone. 

One  remark  more  will  close  the  view  of  the  condi- 
t  ions  of  plasticity.  It  is,  that  Discrimination  and  Re- 
tentiveness  have  a  common  support  in  rapidity  and 
sharpness  of  transition.  A  sharp  and  sudden  change  is 
commonly  said  to  make  a  strong  impression  :  the  fact 
implied   concerns   discrimination    and   retention   alike. 


3&      THE   INTELLECT  : — SIMILARITY,  OR   AGREEMENT. 

Vague,  shadowy,  ill-defined  boundaries  fail  to  be  dis- 
criminated, and  the  subjects  of  them  are  not  remembered. 
The  educator  finds  great  scope  for  his  art  in  this  con- 
sideration also. 


SIMILARITY,  OR  AGREEMENT. 

It  is  neither  an  inapt  nor  a  strained  comparison  to 
call  this  power  the  Law  of  Gravitation  of  the  intellectual 
world.  As  regards  the  Understanding,  it  has  an  import- 
ance co-equal  with  the  plastic  force  that  is  expressed  by 
Retentiveness  or  Memory.  The  methods  to  be  pur- 
sued in  attaining  the  commanding  heights  of  General 
Knowledge  are  framed  by  the  circumstances  attending 
the  detection  of  Like  in  the  midst  of  Unlike. 

With  all  the  variety  that  there  is  in  the  world  of  our 
experience,  a  variety  appealing  to  our  consciousness  of 
difference,  there  is  also  great  Repetition,  sameness  or 
unity.  There  are  many  shades  of  colour,  as  distin- 
guished by  the  discriminative  sensibility  of  the  eye  ;  yet 
the  same  shade  often  recurs.  There  are  many  varieties 
of  form — the  round,  the  square,  the  spiral,  &c. — and  we 
discriminate  them  when  they  are  contrasted  ;  while  the 
same  form  starts  up  again  and  again.  At  first  sight, 
this  apparently  means  nothing  at  all ;  the  great  matter 
would  seem  to  be  to  avoid  confounding  differences — 
blue  with  violet,  a  circle  with  an  oval ;  when  blue  recurs, 
we  simply  treat  it  as  we  did  at  first. 

The  remark  is  too  hasty,  and  overlooks  a  vital 
consideration.  What  raises  the  principle  of  Similarity 
to  its  position  of  command  is  the  accompaniment  of 
diversity.     The  round  form  first  discerned  in  a  ring  or  a 


AGREEMENT  IN  DIVERSITY.  37 

halfpenny,  recurs  in  the  full  moon,  where  the  adjuncts 
are  totally  different  and  need  to  be  felt  as  different.  In 
spite  of  these  disturbing  accompaniments,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  feel  the  agreement  on  the  single  property  called 
the  round  form. 

When  an  impression  made  in  one  situation  is  re- 
peated in  an  altered  situation,  the  new  experience 
reminds  us  of  the  old,  notwithstanding  the  diversity  ; 
this  reminder  may  be  described  as  a  novel  kind  of  shock, 
or  awakened  consciousness,  called  the  shock  or  flash  of 
identity  in  the  midst  of  difference.  A  piece  of  coal  and 
a  piece  of  wood  differ,  and  are  at  first  looked  upon  as 
differing.  Put  into  the  fire,  they  both  blaze  up,  give 
heat,  and  are  consumed.  Here  is  a  shock  of  agreement, 
which  becomes  an  abiding  impression  in  connection 
with  these  two  things.  Of  such  shocks  is  made  up  one- 
half  of  what  we  term  Knowledge. 

Whenever  there  is  a  difference  it  should  be  felt  by 
us ;  in  like  manner,  whenever  there  is  an  agreement  it 
should  be  felt.  To  overlook  either  one  or  the  other  is 
stupidity.  Our  education  marches  in  both  lines  ;  and,  in 
so  far  .as  we  are  helped  by  the  schoolmaster,  we  should 
be  helped  in  both.  The  artifices  that  promote  discri- 
mination, and  the  influences  that  thwart  it,  have  been 
already  considered  ;  and  many  of  the  observations  apply 
also  to  Agreement.  In  the  identifying  of  like  in  the 
midst  of  unlike,  there  are  cases  that  are  easy,  and  there 
are  cases  that  the  unassisted  mind  fails  to  perceive. 

I.  We  must  repeat,  with  reference  to  the  delicate 
perception  of  Agreements,  the  antithesis  of  the  intcl 
lectual  and  the  emotional  outgoings.  It  is  in  the  still- 
ness of  the  emotions  that  the  higher  intellectual  exercises 


38       THE   INTELLECT  : — SIMILARITY.  OR   ARGEEMENT. 

are  possible.  This  circumstance  should  operate  as  a 
warning  against  the  too  frequent  recourse  to  pains  and 
penalties,  as  well  as  against  pleasurable  and  other  ex- 
citement.    But  a  more  specific  application  remains. 

We  may  at  once  face  the  problem  of  General  Know- 
ledge. The  most  troublesome  half  of  the  education  of 
the  intellect  is  the  getting  possession  of  generalities. 
A  general  fact,  notion,  or  truth,  is  a  fact  recurring  under 
various  circumstances  or  accompaniments.  *  Heat '  is  the 
name  for  one  such  generality.  There  are  many  individual 
facts  greatly  differing  among  themselves,  but  all  agree- 
ing in  the  impression  called  heat — the  sun,  a  lire,  a  lamp, 
a  living  animal.  The  intellect  discerns,  or  is  struck 
with,  the  agreement,  notwithstanding  the  differences ; 
and  in  this  discernment  arrives  at  a  general  idea. 

Now  the  grand  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  the 
generalizing  impetus  is  the  presence  of  the  individual 
differences.  These  may  be  small  and  insignificant,  or 
they  may  be  very  great.  In  comparing  fires  with  one 
another,  the  agreement  is  striking,  while  the  differences 
between  one  fire  and  another,  in  size,  or  intensity,  or 
fuel,  do  not  divert  the  attention  from  their  agreement. 
But  the  discerning  of  sameness  in  the  sun's  ray  and  in 
a  fermenting  dung-heap  is  thwarted  by  the  extraor- 
dinary disparity ;  and  this  conflict  between  the  sameness 
and  the  difference  operates  widely  and  retards  the  dis- 
covery of  the  most  important  truths. 

2.  The  device  of  juxtaposition  applies  to  the  ex- 
pounding of  Agreement,  no  less  than  of  Difference.  We 
can  arrange  the  several  agreeing  facts  in  such  a  way  that 
the  agreement  is  more  easily  seen.  The  effect  is  gained 
partly  by  closeness,  as  in  the   case  of  differences,  and 


DRIVING  HOME  A  GENERALITY.  39 

partly  by  a  symmetrical  contact,  as  when  we  compare 
the  two  hands  by  placing  them  finger  to  finger,  and 
thumb  to  thumb.  Such  symmetrical  comparisons 
bring  to  view,  in  the  same  act,  agreement  and  dif- 
ference. The  method  reaches  far  and  wide,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  artificial  aids  to  the  im- 
parting of  knowledge 

3.  The  cumulation  of  the  instances  is  essential  to 
the  driving  home  of  a  generality.  A  continuous  undis- 
tracted  iteration  of  the  point  of  agreement  is  the  only 
way  to  produce  an  adequate  impression  of.  a  great 
general  idea.  I  cannot  now  consider  the  various  ob- 
stacles encountered  in  this  attempt,  nor  explain  how 
seldom  it  can  be  adhered  to  in  the  highest  examples. 
It  must  suffice  to  remark  that  the  interest  special  to  the 
individual  examples  is  pe1-petually  carrying  off  the  at- 
tention ;  and  pupil  and  master  are  both  liable  to  be 
turned  aside  by  the  seduction. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  the  power  of  Similarity, 
under  which  it  is  a  valuable  aid  to  Memory  or  Reten- 
tion. When  we  have  to  learn  an  exercise  absolutely 
new,  we  must  engrain  every  step  by  the  plastic  adhesive- 
ness of  the  brain,  and  must  give  time  and  opportunity 
for  the  adhesive  links  to  be  matured.  But  when  we 
come  to  an  exercise  containing  parts  already  acquired 
by  the  plastic  operation,  we  are  saved  the  labour  of 
forging  fresh  links  as  regards  these,  and  need  only  to 
master  what  is  new  to  us.  When  we  have  known  all 
about  one  plant,  we  can  easily  learn  the  other  plants  of 
the  same  species  or  genus  ;  we  need  only  to  master  the 
points  of  variety. 

The  bearing  of  this  circumstance  on  mental  growth 
5 


40  THE   INTELLECT  :—CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

must  be  apparent  at  once.  After  a  certain  number  of 
acquirements  in  the  various  regions  of  study — manual 
art,  language,  visible  pictures — nothing  that  occurs  is 
absolutely  new ;  the  amount  of  novel  matter  is  con- 
hnually  decreasing  as  our  knowledge  increases.  Our 
adhesive  faculty  is  not  improving  as  we  grow  in  years  ; 
very  much  the  contrary  :  but  our  facility  in  imbibing 
new  knowledge  improves  steadily  ;  the  fact  being  that 
the  knowledge  is  so  little  new  that  the  forming  of  fresh 
adhesions  is  reduced  to  a  very  limited  compass.  The 
most  original  air  of  music  that  the  most  original  genius 
could  compose  would  be  very  soon  learnt  by  an  in- 
structed musician. 

In  the  practice  of  the  schoolmaster's  art,  this  great 
fact  will  be  perpetually  manifesting  itself.  The  opera- 
tion can  be  aided  and  guided  in  those  cases  where  the 
agreement  really  existing  is  not  felt.  It  is  one  of  the 
teaching  devices,  to  make  the  pupils  see  the  old  in  the 
new,  as  far  as  the  agreement  reaches ;  and  to  pose  them 
upon  this  very  circumstance.  The  obstacles  are  the  very 
same  as  already  described,  and  the  means  of  overcoming 
them  the  same.  Orderly  juxtaposition  is  requisite  for 
matters  of  complexity  ;  and  we  may  have  also  to  coun- 
terwork the  attractions  of  individuality.' 

CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

In  many  parts  of  our  education,  the  stress  lies,  not 
in  simple  memory,  or  the  tenacious  holding  of  what  has 

'  When  educators  prescribe,  as  a  means  of  impressing  the  memory,  the 
tracing  of  the  relations  of  cause  and  effect,  means  and  end,  antecedent  and 
consequent,  the  appeal  is  to  agreement  with  some  foregone  impressions. 


SOMETHING  TO  CONSTRUCT   FROM.  41 

been  presented  to  the  mind,  but  in  making  us  perform 
some  new  operation,  something  that  we  were  previously 
unable  to  do.  Such  are  the  first  stages  of  our  instruction 
in  speaking,  in  writing,  and  in  all  the  mechanical  or 
manual  arts.  So  also  in  the  higher  intellectual  pro- 
cesses, as  in  the  imagining  of  what  we  have  not  seen. 
I  do  not  go  so  far  as  to  include  invention  or  discovery ; 
the  culture  of  the  creative  faculty  is  not  comprised  in  the 
present  discussion. 

The  psychology  of  Constructiveness  is  remarkably 
simple.  There  are  certain  primary  conditions  that  run 
through  all  the  cases  ;  and  it  is  by  paying  due  respect 
to  these  conditions  that  we  can,  as  teachers,  render  every 
possible  assistance  to  the  struggling  pupils. 

I.  The  constructive  process  supposes  something  to 
construct  from  ;  some  powers  already  possessed  that  can 
be  exercised,  directed,  and  combined  in  a  new  manner. 
We  must  walk  before  beginning  to  dance  ;  we  must 
articulate  simple  sounds  before  we  can  articulate  words  ; 
we  must  draw  straight  strokes  and  pot-hooks  before  we 
can  form  letters  ;  we  must  conceive  trees  and  shrubs, 
flowers  and  grassy  plots,  before  we  can  conceive  a 
garden. 

The  practical  inference  is  no  less  obvious  and  irre- 
sistible ;  it  is  one  that  covers  the  whole  field  of  edu- 
cation, and  can  never  have  been  entirely  neglected, 
although  it  has  certainly  never  been  fully  carried  out. 
Before  entering  on  a  new  exercise,  we  must  first  be  led 
up  to  it  by  mastering  the  preliminary  or  preparatory 
exercises.  Teachers  are  compelled  by  their  failures  to 
attend  to  this  fact  in  the  more  palpable  exercises,  as 
speaking  and  writing.     They  lose  sight  of  it,  when  the 


42  THE  INTELLECT: — CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

succession  of  stages  is  too  subtle  for  their  apprehensioj\ 
as  in  the  understanding  of  scientific  doctrines. 

2.  In  aiming  at  a  new  construction,  we  must  clearly 
conceive  what  is  aimed  at ;  we  must  have  the  means  of 
judging  whether  or  not  our  tentatives  are  successful. 
The  child  in  writing  has  the  copy  lines  before  it ;  the 
man  in  the  ranks  sees  the  fugleman,  or  hears  the  ap- 
proving oi  disapproving  voice  of  the  drill-sergeant. 
Where  we  have  a  very  distinct  and  intelligible  model 
before  us,  we  are  in  a  fair  way  to  succeed ;  in  proportion 
as  the  ideal  is  dim  and  wavering,  we  stagger  and  mis- 
carry. When  we  depend  upon  a  teacher's  expressed 
approval  of  our  effort,  it  behoves  him  to  be  very  consis- 
tent, as  well  as  very  sound,  in  his  judgment ;  should  he 
be  one  thing  to-day,  and  another  thing  to-morrow,  we 
are  unhinged  and  undone. 

It  is  a  defect  pertaining  to  all  models  that  they  con- 
tain individual  peculiarities  mixed  up  with  the  ideal 
intention.  We  carry  away  with  us  from  every  instructor 
touches  of  mannerism,  and  the  worst  of  it  is  that  some 
learners  catch  nothing  but  the  mannerism  ;  this  being 
generally  easier  to  fall  into  than  the  essential  merits 
of  the  teaching.  There  is  no  remedy  here  except  the 
comparison  of  several  good  models  ;  as  the  ship-captain 
carries  with  him  a  number  of  chronometers. 

In  following  an  unapproachable  original,  ?.s  in  learn- 
ing to  write  from  copperplate  lines,  we  need  a  second 
judgment  to  inform  us  whether  our  deviations  are  serious 
and  fundamental,  or  only  venial  and  unavoidable.  The 
good  tact  of  our  instructor  is  here  put  to  the  test ;  he 
may  make  our  path  like  the  shining  light  that  shinelli 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day,  or  he  may  leave  us 


TRIAL  AND  ERROR.  43 

in  hopeless  perplexity.  To  point  out  to  us  where, 
how,  and  why  we  are  wrong,  is  the  teacher's  most  indis- 
peniJdble  function. 

3.  The  only  mode  of  arriving  at  a  new  constructive 
combination  is  to  try  and  try  again.  The  will  initiates 
some  movements ;  these  are  found  not  to  answer,  and 
are  suppressed  ;  others  are  tried,  and  so  on,  until  the 
requisite  combination  has  been  struck  out.  The  way  to 
new  powers  is  by  trial  and  error.  In  proportion  as  the 
first  and  second  conditions  above  given  are  realized,  the 
unsuccessful  trials  are  fewer.  If  we  have  been  well  led 
up  to  the  combination  required,  and  if  we  have  before 
us  a  very  clear  idea  of  what  is  to  be  done,  we  do  not 
need  many  tentatives ;  the  prompt  suppression  of  the 
wrong  movements  ultimately  lands  us  in  the  right. 

The  mastering  of  a  new  manual  combination,  as  in 
writing,  in  learning  to  swim,  in  the  mechanical  arts, — is 
a  very  trying  moment  to  the  human  powers  ;  success 
involves  all  those  favourable  circumstances  indicated  in 
discussing  the  retentive  or  receptive  faculty.  Vigour, 
freshness,  freedom  from  distraction,  no  strong  or  extra- 
neous emotions,  motives  to  succeed, — are  all  most  de- 
sirable in  realizing  a  difficult  combination.  Fatigue, 
fear,  flurry,  or  other  wasting  excitement,  do  away  with 
the  chances  of  success. 

Very  often  we  have  to  give  up  the  attempt  for  a 
time  ;  yet  the  ineffectual  struggles  are  not  entirely  lost 
We  have  at  least  learnt  to  avoid  a  certain  number  of 
positions,  and  have  narrowed  the  round  of  tentatives  for 
the  next  occasion.  If  after  two  or  three  repetitions, 
with  rest  intervals,  the  desired  combination  does  not 
emerge,  it  is  a  proof  that  some  preparatory  movement 


44     ALTERNATION  AND  REMISSION   OF  ACTIVITY. 

is  wanting,  and  we  should  be  made  to  retrace  the  ap- 
proaches. Perhaps  we  may  have  learnt  the  pre-requisite 
movements  in  a  way,  but  not  with  sufficient  firmness  and 
certainty  for  securing  their  being  performed  in  combi' 
nation. 

ALTERNATION  AND   REMISSION   OF  ACTIVITY. 

In  the  accustomed  routine  of  Education,  a  number 
of  separate  studies  and  acquirements  are  prosecuted 
together ;  so  that,  for  each  day,  a  pupil  may  have  to 
engage  in  as  many  as  three,  four,  or  more,  different 
kinds  of  lessons. 

The  principles  that  guide  the  alternation  and  remis- 
sion of  our  modes  of  exercise  and  application  are  ap- 
parently these : — 

I.  Sleep  is  the  only  entire  and  absolute  cessation 
of  the  mental  and  bodily  expenditure  ;  and  perfect  or 
dreamless  sleep  is  the  greatest  cessation  of  all.  What- 
ever shortens  the  due  allowance  of  sleep,  or  renders  it 
fitful  and  disturbed,  or  promotes  dreaming,  is  so  much 
force  wasted. 

In  the  waking  hours,  there  may  be  cessation  from  a 
given  exercise,  with  more  or  less  of  inaction  over  the 
whole  system.  The  greatest  diversion  of  the  working 
forces  is  made  by  our  meals  ;  during  these  the  trains  of 
thought  are  changed,  while  the  body  is  rested. 

Bodily  or  muscular  exercise,  when  alternated  with 
sedentary  mental  labour,  is  really  a  mode  of  remission 
accompanied  with  an  expenditure  requisite  to  redress 
the  balance  of  the  physical  functions.  The  blood  has 
unduly  flowed  to  the  brain  ;  muscular  exercise  draws  it 
off.     The  oxidation  of  the  tissues  has  been  retarded  ; 


FAVOURABLE  ALTERNATIONS.  45 

muscular  exercise  is  the  most  direct  mode  of  increasing 
it.  But  definite  observations  teach  us  that  these  two 
beneficial  effects  are  arrested  at  the  fatigue-point ;  so 
that  the  exercise  at  last  contributes  not  to  the  refresh- 
ment, but  to  the  farther  exhaustion  of  the  system. 

2.  The  real  matter  before  us  is,  what  do  we  gain  by 
dropping  one  form  of  activity  and  taking  up  another  ? 
This  involves  a  variety  of  considerations. 

It  is  clear  that  the  first  exercise  must  not  have  been 
pushed  so  far  as  to  induce  general  exhaustion.  The  raw 
recruit,  at  the  end  of  his  morning  drill,  is  not  in  a  good 
state  to  improve  his  arithmetic  in  the  military  school- 
room. The  musical  training  for  the  stage  is  at  times  so 
severe  as  to  preclude  every  other  study.  The  import- 
ance of  a  particular  training  may  be  such  that  we  desire 
for  it  the  whole  available  plasticity  of  the  system. 

It  is  only  another  form  of  exhaustion  when  the 
currents  of  the  brain  continue  in  their  set  channels  and 
refuse  any  proposed  diversion. 

There  are  certain  stages  in  every  new  and  difficult 
study,  wherein  it  might  be  well  to  concentrate  for  a  time 
the  highest  energy  of  the  day.  Generally,  it  is  at  the 
commencement ;  but  whatever  be  the  point  of  special 
difficulty,  there  might  be  a  remission  of  all  other  serious 
or  arduous  studies,  till  this  is  got  over.  Not  that  we 
need  actually  to  lay  aside  everything  else ;  but  there 
are,  in  most  studies,  many  long  tracts  where  we  seem  in 
point  of  form  to  be  moving  on,  but  are  really  repeating 
substantially  the  same  familiar  efforts.  It  would  be  a 
felicitous  ideal  adjustment,  if  the  moments  of  strain  in 
one  of  the  parallel  courses  were  to  coincide  with  tlie 
moments  of  ease  in  the  rest. 


46     ALTERNATION   AND    REMISSION   OF   ACTIVITY. 

Hardly  any  kind  of  study  or  exercise  is  so  compli- 
cated and  many-sided  as  to  press  alike  upon  all  the 
energies  of  the  system  ;  hence  there  is  an  obvious  pro- 
l^Tiety  in  making  such  variations  as  would  leave  unused 
as  few  of  our  faculties  as  possible.  This  principle  neces- 
sarily applies  to  every  mental  process — acquirement, 
production,  enjoyment.  The  working  out  of  the  prin- 
ciple supposes  that  we  are  not  led  away  by  the  mere 
semblance  of  variety. 

Let  us  endeavour  to  assign  the  differences  of  subject 
Ihat  afford  relief  by  transition. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  change  that  are  merely 
another  name  for  simple  remission  of  the  intellectual 
strain.  When  a  severe  and  difficult  exercise  is  exchanged 
for  an  easy  one,  the  agreeable  effect  is  due,  not  to  what 
we  engage  in,  but  to  what  we  are  relieved  from.  For 
letting  down  the  strain  of  the  faculties,  it  is  sometimes 
better  to  take  up  a  light  occupation  for  a  time  than  to 
be  totally  idle. 

The  exchange  of  study  for  sport  has  the  twofold 
advantage  of  muscular  exercise  and  agreeable  play.  To 
pass  from  anything  that  is  simply  laborious  to  the 
indulgence  of  a  taste  or  liking,  is  the  fruition  of  life. 
To  emerge  from  constraint  to  liberty,  from  the  dark  to 
the  light,  from  monotony  to  variety,  from  giving  to  re- 
ceiving— is  the  exchanging  of  pain  for  pleasure.  This, 
•which  is  the  substantial  reward  of  labour,  is  also  the 
condition  of  renovating  the  powers  for  further  labour 
and  endurance. 

To  come  closer  to  the  difficulty  in  hand.  The  kind 
■of  change  that  may  take  place  within  the  field  of  study 
•itself,  and  that  may  operate  both  as  a  relief  from  strain 


OBSERVING  AND   DOING.  47 

and  as  the  reclamation  of  waste  ground,  is  best  exempli- 
fied in  such  matters  as  these  : — In  the  act  of  learning 
generally  there  is  a  twofold  attitude — observing  what  is 
to  be  done,  and  doing  it.  In  verbal  exercises  we  first 
listen  and  then  repeat ;  in  handicraft,  we  look  at  the 
model,  and  then  reproduce  it.  Now,  the  proportioning 
of  the  two  attitudes  is  a  matter  of  economical  adjust- 
ment. If  we  are  kept  too  long  on  the  observing  stretch, 
we  lose  the  energy  for  acting ;  not  to  mention  that  more 
has  been  given  us  than  we  are  able  to  realize.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  should  observe  long  enough  to  be  quite 
saturated  with  the  impression ;  we  should  have  enough 
given  us  to  be  worthy  of  our  reproducing  energy.  Any- 
one working  from  a  model  at  command  learns  the  suit- 
able proportion  between  observing  and  doing.  The  living 
teacher  may  err  on  either  side.  He  may  give  too  much 
at  one  dose ;  this  is  the  common  error.  Or  he  may 
dole  out  insignificantly  small  portions,  such  as  do  not 
evoke  the  sense  of  power  in  the  pupils. 

When  an  arduous  combination  is  once  struck  out, 
thf  worst  is  over,  but  the  acquisition  is  not  completed. 
Th?re  is  the  farther  stage  of  repetition  and  practice,  to 
give  facility  and  to  ensure  permanence.  This  is  compara- 
tively easy.  It  is  the  occupation  of  the  soldier  after  his 
first  year.  There  is  a  plastic  process  still  going  on,  but 
it  is  not  the  same  draft  upon  the  forces  as  the  original 
struggles.  At  this  stage,  other  acquirements  are  possible 
and  should  be  made.  Now,  in  the  course  of  training,  it 
is  a  relief  to  pass  from  the  exercises  that  are  entirely 
new  and  strange  to  those  that  have  been  practised  and 
need  only  to  be  continued  and  confirmed. 

Before  considering  the  alternations  of  departments 


48      ALTERNATION    AND   REMISSION   OF   ACTIVITY. 

of  acquisition,  we  may  advert  to  the  two  different  intel- 
lectual energies,  called,  respectively.  Memory  and  Judg- 
ment. These  are  in  every  way  distinct,  and  in  passing 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  there  is  a  real,  and  not  merely 
an  apparent,  transition.  Memory  is  nearly  identical  with 
the  Retentive,  Adhesive,  or  Plastic  faculty,  which  I  have 
assumed  to  be  perhaps  the  most  costly  employment  of 
the  powers  of  the  mind  and  brain.  Judgment  again 
may  be  simply  an  exercise  of  Discrimination ;  it  may 
also  involve  Similarity  and  Identification ;  it  may  further 
contain  a  Constructive  operation.  It  is  the  aspect  of 
our  intellectual  power  that  turns  to  account  our  existing 
impressions,  as  contrasted  with  the  power  that  adds  to 
our  accumulated  stores.  The  most  delightful  and  fruc- 
tifying of  all  the  intellectual  energies  is  the  power  of 
Similarity  and  Agreement,  by  which  we  rise  from  the 
individual  to  the  general,  trace  sameness  in  diversity, 
and  master,  instead  of  being  mastered  by,  the  multipli- 
city of  Nature. 

Much  more  would  be  necessary  to  exhaust  the  nature 
of  the  opposition  between  exercises  of  Memory  and  ex- 
ercises of  Judgment,  Language  and  Science  approxi- 
mately represent  the  contrast,  although  language  does 
not  exclude  judgment ;  and  science  demands  memory. 
But  in  the  one  region,  mere  adhesion  is  in  the  ascendant, 
and,  in  the  other,  the  detection  of  similarity  in  diversity 
is  the  leading  circumstance.  There  is  thus  a  real  trans- 
ition, and  change  of  strain,  in  passing  from  the  one 
class  of  studies  to  the  other  ;  the  only  qualifying  cir- 
cumstance is,  that  in  early  years  routine  adhesion  plays 
ihe  greatest  part,  being,  in  fact,  easier  than  the  other  Hne 
of  exertion,  for  reasons  that  can  be  divined. 


ABSTRACT  AND   CONCRETE.  49 

We  can  now  see  what  are  the  departments  that  con- 
stitute the  most  effective  transitions  or  diversions  where- 
by relief  may  be  gained  at  one  point,  and  acquirement 
pushed  at  some  other.  In  the  muscular  acquirements, 
we  have  several  distinct  regions  — the  body  generally, 
the  hand  in  particular,  the  voice  (articulate)  and  the 
voice  (musical).  To  pass  from  one  of  these  to  the  other 
is  almost  a  total  change.  Then,  as  to  the  Sense  engaged, 
we  may  alternate  between  the  eye  and  the  ear,  making 
another  complete  transition.  Further,  each  of  the  sense- 
organs  has  distinguishable  susceptibilities  ;  as  colour  and 
form  to  the  eye,  articulation  and  music  to  the  ear. 

Another  effective  transition  is  from  books  or  spoken 
teaching  to  concrete  objects,  as  set  forth  in  the  sciences 
of  observation  and  experiment.  The  change  is  nearly 
the  same  as  from  an  abstract  subject,  like  Mathematics, 
to  one  of  the  concrete  and  experimental  sciences,  as 
Botany  or  Chemistry.  A  still  further  change  is  from 
the  world  of  matter  to  the  world  of  mind ;  but  this  is 
liable  to  assume  false  and  delusive  appearances. 

It  has  been  well  remarked  that  Arithmetic  is  an 
effective  transition  from  Reading  and  Writing.  The 
whole  strain  and  attitude  of  the  mind  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent, when  the  pupil  sets  to  perform  sums  after  a  read- 
ing lesson.  The  Mathematical  sciences  are  naturally 
deemed  the  driest  and  hardest  of  occupations  to  the 
average  mind ;  yet  there  may  be  occupations  such  as 
to  make  them  an  acceptable  diversion.  I  have  known 
clergymen  whose  relaxation  from  clerical  duty  consisted 
in  algebraical  and  geometrical  problems. 

The  Fine  Art  acquisitions  introduce  an  agreeable 
variety,  partly  by  bringing  distinctive  organs  into  play, 


50     ALTERNATION   AND   REMISSION   OF  ACTIVITY. 

and  partly  by  evolving  a  pleasurable  interest  that  enters 
iiLtle,  if  at  all,  into  other  studies.  The  more  genial  patt 
of  Moral  Training  has  a  relationship  to  Art ;  the  severer 
exercises  are  a  painful  necessity,  and  not  an  agreeable 
transition  from  anything. 

The  introduction  of  narratives,  stirring  incidents,  and 
topics  of  human  interest  generally,  is  chiefly  a  mode  of 
pleasurable  recreation.  If  taken  in  any  other  view,  it 
falls  under  some  of  the  leading  studies,  and  engages  the 
Memory,  the  Judgment,  or  the  Constructive  power,  and 
must  be  estimated  accordingly. 

Bodily  training,  Fine  Art  (itself  an  aggregate  of  al- 
ternations). Language,  Science,  do  not  exhaust  all  the 
varieties  of  acquirement,  but  they  indicate  the  chief 
departments  whose  alternation  gives  relief  to  the  mental 
strain,  and  economizes  power  in  the  whole.  Under  these, 
as  already  hinted,  there  are  variations  of  attitude  and 
exercise  ;  from  listening  to  repeating,  fr9m  learning  a 
rule  to  the  application  of  it  in  new  cases,  from  knowledge 
generally  to  practice. 

The  transition  from  one  language  to  another,  being 
a  variation  in  the  nature  of  the  impressions,  is  a  relief  of 
an  inferior  kind,  yet  real.  It  is  the  more  so,  if  we  are 
not  engaged  in  parallel  exercises  ;  learning  strings  of 
Latin  words  in  the  morning,  and  of  German  in  the  even- 
ing,  does  not  constitute  anjf  relief. 

From  one  science  to  another  the  transition  may  be 
great,  as  already  shown,  or  it  may  be  small.  From  Bo- 
tany to  Zoology  affords  a  transition  of  material,  with 
similarity  in  form.  Pure  and  Mixed  Mathematics  are 
the  very  same  thing.  The  change  from  Algebra  to 
Geometry  is  but  slighr^y  refreshing  ;  from  Geometry'  to 


MIXED  SUBJECTS.  5! 

Trigonometry  and  Geometrical  Conic  Sections,  is  no 
relief  to  any  faculty. 

There  are  minor  incidents  of  relief  and  alternation 
tba*  are  not  to  be  despised.  Passing  from  one  master 
to  another  (both  being  supposed  competent)  is  a  very 
sensible  and  grateful  change;  even  the  change  of, room, 
of  seat,  of  posture,  is  an  antidote  against  weariness,  and 
helps  us  in  making  a  fresh  start.  The  jaded  student 
relishes  a  change  of  books  in  the  same  subject.^ 

Some  subjects  are  in  themselves  so  mixed  that  they 
would  appear  to  contain  the  elements  of  a  sufficiently 
varied  occupation  of  the  mind  ;  such  are  Geography, 
History,  and  what  is  called  Literature,  when  studied 
both  for  expression  and  for  subject-matter.  This  variety, 
however,  is  not  altogether  a  desirable  thing.  The  ana- 
lytic branch  of  the  Science  of  Education  would  have  to 
resolve  those  aggregates  into  their  constituent  parts,  and 
to  consider  not  only  their  respective  contributions  to  our 
mental  culture,  but  also  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages attending  the  mixture. 

CULTURE   OF   THE   EMOTIONS. 

The  laws  attainable  in  the  departments  of  Emotion 
and  Volition  are  the  immediate  prelude  to  Moral  Edu- 
cation, in  which  all  the  highest  difficulties  culminate. 
There  are  emotional  and  volitional  forces  prior  to  any 
cultivation,  and  there  are  new  forces  that  arise  through 
cultivation ;   yet  from  the  vagueness  attaching  to  the 

'  In  the  German  Gymnasia,  where  the  routine  is  very  strict,  and  the 
exactions  enormous,  the  pupils  are  allowed  a  day  in  the  week  to  their  own 
choice  of  studies. 


52  CULTURE  OF  THE   EMOTIONS. 

measured  intensity  of  feelings  and  emotions,  it  is  not 
easy  to  value  the  separate  results. 

The  general  laws  of  Retentiveness  equally  apply  to 
emotional  growths.  There  must  be  Repetition  and  Con- 
centration of  mind  to  bring  about  a  mental  association 
of  pleasure  or  of  pain  with  any  object.  But  there  are 
peculiarities  in  the  case  such  as  to  demand  for  it  a  sup- 
plementary treatment.  Perhaps  the  best  way  of  bringing 
out  the  points  is  to  indicate  the  modes  or  species  of 
growths,  coming  under  Emotion  and  Volition,  that  most 
obtrude  themselves  upon  the  notice  of  the  educationist. 

I.  We  may  quote  first  the  Associations  of  Pleasure 
and  Pain  with  the  various  things  that  have  been  present 
to  us  during  our  experiences  of  delight  and  suffering. 
It  is  well  known  that  we  contract  pleasurable  regards 
towards  things  originally  indifferent  that  have  been  often 
present  to  us  in  happy  moments.  Local  associations 
are  among  the  most  familiar  examples ;  if  our  life  is 
joyous,  we  go  on  increasing  our  attachments  to  our  per- 
manent home  and  neighbourhood  ;  we  are  severely  tried 
when  we  have  to  migrate ;  and  one  of  our  holiday  de- 
lights is  to  revisit  the  scenes  of  former  pleasures.  A 
second  class  of  acquired  feelings  includes  the  associa- 
tions with  such  objects  as  have  been  the  instruments  of 
our  avocations,  tastes,  and  pursuits.  The  furnishings  of 
our  home,  our  tools,  weapons,  curiosities,  collections, 
books,  pictures — all  contract  a  glow  of  associated  feel- 
ing, that  helps  to  palliate  the  dulness  of  life.  The  essence 
of  affection,  as  distinguished  from  emotion,  is  understood 
to  be  the  confirming  and  strengthening  of  some  primary 
object  of  our  regards.  As  our  knowledge  extends,  we 
contract  numerous  associations  with  things  purely  ideal, 


HAPPY  ASSOCIATIONS.  53 

as  with  historic  places,  persons,  incidents.  I  need 
only  allude  to  the  large  field  of  ceremonies,  rites,  and 
formalities  that  are  cherished  as  enlarging  the  surface 
of  emotional  growths.  The  Fine  Art  problem  of  distin- 
guishing between  original  and  derived  effects  consists  in 
more  precisely  estimating  these  acquired  pleasures. 

The  educationist  could  not  but  cast  a  longing  eye 
over  the  wide  region  here  opened  up,  as  a  grand  oppor- 
tunity for  his  art.  It  is  the  realm  of  vague  possibility, 
peculiarly  suited  to  sanguine  estimates.  An  education 
in  happiness  pure  and  simple,  by  well-placed  joyous  asso- 
ciations, is  a  dazzling  prospect.  One  of  Sydney  Smith's 
pithy  sayings  was  — '  If  you  make  children  happy  now, 
you  make  them  happy  twenty  years  hence,  by  the  me- 
mory of  it'  This  referred  no  doubt  to  the  home  life.  It 
may,  however,  be  carried  out  also  in  the  school  life  ;  and 
enthusiasm  has  gone  the  length  of  supposing  that  the 
school  may  be  so  well  constituted  as  to  efface  the  stamp 
of  an  unhappy  home. 

The  growth  of  such  happy  associations  is  not  the 
work  of  days ;  it  demands  years,  I  have  endeavoured 
to  set  forth  the  psychology  of  the  case,'  and  do  not  here 
repeat  the  principles  and  conditions  that  seem  to  be  in- 
volved. But  the  thread  of  the  present  exposition  would 
be  snapt,  if  I  were  not  to  ask  attention  to  the  difference 
in  the  rate  of  growth  when  the  feelings  are  painful ;  in 
which  case,  the  progress  is  not  so  tedious,  nor  is  it  so 
liable  to  thwarting  and  interruption. 

With  understood  exceptions,  pleasure  is  related  phy- 
sically with  vitality,  health,  vigour,  harmonious  adjust- 
ment of  all  the  parts  of  the  system  ;  it  needs  sufficiency 

'   T}u  Emotions  and  the  Will,  3rd  ediU,  p.  89. 


54  CULTURE   OF   THE   EMOTIONS. 

of  nutriment  or  support,  excitement  within  due  limits, 
the  absence  of  everything  that  could  mar  or  irritate  any 
organ.  Pain  comes  of  the  deficiency  in  any  of  these 
conditions,  and  is,  therefore,  as  easy  to  bring  about  and 
maintain  as  the  other  is  difficult.  To  evoke  an  echo  or 
recollection  of  pleasure,  is  to  secure,  or  at  least  to  simu- 
late, the  copiousness,  the  due  adjustment  and  harmony, 
of  the  powers.  This  may  be  easy  enough  when  such  is 
the  actual  state  at  the  time,  but  that  is  no  test.  What 
we  need  is  to  induce  a  pleasurable  tone,  when  the  actu- 
ality is  no  more  than  indifferent  or  neutral,  and  even,  in 
the  midst  of  actual  pain,  to  restore  pleasure  by  force  of 
mental  adhesiveness.  A  growth  of  this  description  is, 
on  d  priori  grounds,  not  likely  to  be  soon  reached. 

On  the  other  hand,  pain  is  easy  in  the  actual,  and 
easy  in  the  ideal.  It  is  easy  to  burn  one's  fingers,  and 
easy  to  associate  pain  with  a  flame,  a  cinder,  a  hot  iron. 
Going  as  spectators  to  visit  a  fine  mansion,  M^e  feel  in 
some  degree  elated  by  the  associations  of  enjoyment ; 
but  we  are  apt  to  be  in  a  still  greater  degree  depressed 
by  entering  the  abodes  of  wretchedness,  or  visiting  the 
gloomy  chambers  of  a  prison. 

2.  The  facility  of  painful  growths  is  not  fully  com- 
prehended, until  we  advert  to  the  case  of  Passionate 
Outbursts,  or  the  modes  of  feeling  whose  characteristic 
is  Explosiveness.  These  costly  discharges  of  vital  energy 
are  easy  to  induce  at  first  hand,  and  easy  to  attach  to 
indifferent  things,  so  as  to  be  induced  at  second  hand 
likewise.  Very  rarely  are  they  desirable  in  themselves  ; 
our  study  is  to  check  and  control  them  in  their  original 
operation,  and  to  hinde~r  the  rise  of  new  occasions  for 
their  display     One  of  the  best  examples  is  Terror ;  an 


PAINFUL   ASSOCIATIONS.  55 

explosive  and  wasteful  manifestation  of  energy  under 
certain  forms  of  pain.  If  it  is  frequently  stimulated  h> 
its  proper  causes,  it  attaches  itself  to  bystanding  circum- 
stances with  fatal  readiness,  and  proceeds  with  no  tardy 
steps.  Next  is  Irascibility ;  also  an  explosive  emotion. 
It  too,  if  ready  to  burst  out  by  its  primary  causes,  soon 
enlarges  its  borders  by  new  associations.  It  is  in  every 
way  more  dangerous  than  terror.  The  state  of  fear  is 
so  miserable  that  we  would  restrain  it  if  we  could.  The 
state  of  anger,  although  containing  painful  elements,  is 
in  its  nature  a  luxurious  mood  ;  and  we  may  not  wish 
either  to  check  it  in  the  first  instance,  or  to  prevent 
its  spreading  over  collateral  things.  When  anyone 
has  stirrred  our  irascibility  to  its  depths,  the  feeling 
overflows  upon  all  that  relates  to  him.  If  this  be  plea- 
sure, it  is  a  pleasure  of  rapid  growth  ;  even  in  tender 
years  we  may  be  advanced  in  hatreds.  That  combina- 
tion of  terror  and  irascibility  giving  rise  to  what  is  named 
Antipathy  is  (unless  strongl)'  resisted)  a  state  easy  to 
assume  and  easy  to  cultivate,  and  is  in  wide  contrast 
with  the  slow  growth  of  the  pleasures  typified  under  the 
foregoing  head.  A  signal  illustration  of  explosiveness 
is  furnished  by  Laughter,  which  has  both  its  original 
causes,  and  its  factitious  or  borrowed  stimulants.  This 
is  an  instance  where  the  severity  of  the  agitation  pro- 
vokes self-control,  and  where  advancing  years  contract 
rather  than  enlarge  the  sphere.  As  the  expression 
of  disparaging  and  scornful  emotions,  its  cultivation  has 
the  facility  of  the  generic  passion  of  malevolence.  We 
may  refer,  next,  to  the  explosive  emotion  of  Grief,  which  s 
is  in  itself  seductive,  and,  if  uncontrolled,  adds  to  its 
primary  urgency  the  force  of  a  habit  all  too  readily 


56  CULTURE   OF   THE   EMOTIONS. 

acquired.  There  is,  moreover,  in  connection  with  the 
Tender  Emotion,  an  explosive  mode  of  genuine  affec- 
tion, of  which  the  only  defect  is  its  being  too  strong  to 
last ;  it  prompts  to  a  degree  of  momentary  ardour  that. 
is  compatible  with  a  relapse  into  coldness  and  neglect. 
This,  too,  will  spontaneously  extend  itself,  and  will  ex- 
emplify the  growth  of  emotional  association  with  unde- 
sirable rapidity. 

What  has  now  been  said  is  but  a  summary  and  re- 
presentation of  familiar  emotional  facts.  Familiar  also 
is  the  remark  that  explosiveness  is  the  weakness  of  early 
life,  and  is  surmounted  to  a  great  degree  by  the  lapse  of 
time  and  the  strengthening  of  the  energies.  The  en- 
counter with  others  in  every-day  life  begets  restraint 
and  control ;  and  one's  own  prudential  reflections  stimu- 
late a  further  repression  of  the  original  outbursts,  by 
which  also  their  growth  into  habits  is  retarded.  In  so 
far  as  they  are  repressed  by  influence  from  without, 
and  counter-habits  established,  as  a  part  of  moral  edu- 
cation, I  have  elsewhere  stated  what  I  consider  the 
two  main  conditions  of  such  a  result — a  powerful  initia- 
tive, and  an  unbroken  series  of  conquests.  When 
these  conditions  are  exemplified  through  all  the  emo- 
tions in  detail,  the  specialities  of  the  different  genera 
— Fear,  Anger,  Love,  and  the  rest — are  sufficiently 
obvious. 

3.  The  chief  interest  always  centres  in  those  asso- 
ciations that,  from  their  bearing  on  conduct  as  right  and 
wrong,  receive  the  name  'Moral.'  The  class  just  de- 
scribed have  this  bearing  in  a  very  direct  form  ;  while 
the  bearing  of  the  first  class  is  only  indirect.  But  when 
we  approach  the  subject  with  an  express  view  to  moral 


MORAL  ASSOCIATIONS.  57 

culture,  we  must  cross  the  field  of  emotional  association 
in  general  by  a  new  track. 

Moral  improvement  is  obviously  a  strengthening  of 
Uiis  so-called  Moral  Faculty,  or  Conscience — increasing 
its  might  (in  Butler's  phrase)  to  the  level  of  its  right 
But  in  order  to  strengthen  an  energy  we  must  know 
what  it  is :  if  it  is  a  simple,  we  must  define  it  in  its  sim- 
plicity ;  if  it  is  a  compound,  we  must  assign  its  elements 
with  a  view  to  defining  them.  The  unconventional  hand- 
ling of  moral  culture  by  Bentham  and  by  James  Mill  is 
strongly  illustrative  of  this  part  of  the  case.  Mill's  view 
of  the  Moral  Sense  is  the  theory  of  thorough-going  deri- 
vation ;  and,  in  delineating  the  process  of  Moral  Educa- 
tion, he  naturally  follows  out  that  view.  He  takes  the 
cardinal  virtues  piecemeal ;  for  example: — 'Temperance 
bears  a  reference  to  pain  and  pleasure.  The  object  is, 
to  connect  with  each  pain  and  pleasure  those  trains  of 
ideas  which,  according  to  the  order  established  among 
events,  tend  most  effectually  to  increase  the  sum  of 
pleasures  upon  the  whole,  and  diminish  that  of  pains.' 
The  advocates  of  a  Moral  Faculty  would  have  a  different 
way  of  inculcating  Temperance,  which,  however,  I  will 
not  undertake  to  reproduce. 

It  will  not  be  denied,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the 
perennial  mode  of  ensuring  the  moral  conduct  of  man- 
kind has  been  punishment  and  reward — pain  and  plea- 
sure. This  method  has  been  found,  generally  speaking, 
to  answer  the  purpose ;  it  has  reached  the  springs  of  action 
of  human  beings  of  every  hue.  No  special  mental  en- 
dowment has  been  needed  to  make  man  dread  the  pains 
of  the  civil  authority.  Constituted  as  we  are  to  flee  all 
sorts  of  pain,  we  are  necessarily  urged  to  avoid  pain 


58         CULTURE  OF  THE  EMOTIONS. 

when  it  conies  as  punishment.  Education  is  not  essen- 
tial to  this  effect,  any  more  than  it  is  essential  to  our 
avoiding  the  pains  of  hunger,  cold,  or  fatigue. 

Those  that  demur  to  the  existence  of  a  special  faculty, 
different  from  all  the  other  recognized  constituents  of 
mind — Feeling,  Will,  or  Intellect — are  not  to  be  held 
as  declaring  that  Conscience  is  entirely  a  matter  of  edu- 
cation ;  for,  without  any  education  at  all,  man  may  be,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  moral.  What  is  meant  by  the 
derivative  theory  of  Conscience  is,  that  everything  that 
it  includes  is  traceable  to  some  one  or  other  of  the  lead- 
ing facts  of  our  nature ;  first  of  all  to  Will  or  Volition, 
motived  by  pain  and  pleasure,  and  next  to  the  Social 
and  Sympathetic  impulses.  The  co-operation  of  these 
factors  supplies  an  impetus  to  right  conduct  that  is  nearly 
all-powerful,  wherever  there  is  the  external  machinery  of 
law  and  authority.  Education,  as  a  third  factor,  plays  a 
part,  no  doubt,  but  we  may  over-rate  as  well  as  under- 
rate its  influence.  I  should  not  be  far  out  in  saying 
that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  average  moral  faculty 
is  the  rough  and  ready  response  of  the  Will  to  the  con- 
stituted penalties  and  rewards  of  society. 

At  the  risk  of  embroiling  the  theory  of  Education  in 
a  controversy  that  would  seem  to  be  alien  to  it,  I  con- 
ceive it  to  be  necessary  to  make  these  broad  statements 
as  a  prelude  to  inquiring  what  are  the  emotional  and 
volitional  associations  that  constitute  the  made-up  or 
acquired  portion  of  our  moral  nature.  That  education  is 
a  considerable  factor  is  shown  by  the  difference  between 
the  children  that  are  neglected  and  those  that  are  care- 
fully tended  ;  a  difference,  however,  that  means  a  good 
deal  more  than  education. 


DISINTERESTED  REPUGNANCE  TO  WRONG.  59 

When  the  terrors  of  the  law  are  once  thoioughly  un- 
derstood, it  does  not  seem  as  if  any  education  could  add 
to  the  mind's  own  original  repugnance  to  incur  them ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  when  something  in  the  nature  of 
reward  is  held  forth  to  encourage  certain  kinds  of  con- 
duct, we  do  not  need  special  instruction  to  prompt  us  to 
secure  it.  There  is,  indeed,  one  obvious  weakness  that 
often  nullifies  the  operation  of  these  motives,  namely,  the 
giving  way  to  some  present  and  pressing  solicitation  ;  a 
weakness  that  education  might  do  something  for,  but 
rarely  does.  The  instructor  that  could  reform  a  victim 
to  this  frailty,  would  effect  something  much  wider  than 
is  properly  included  in  moral  improvement. 

Going  in  search  of  some  distinct  lines  of  emotional 
association  that  enhance  the  original  impulses  coincident 
with  moral  duty,  I  think  I  may  cite  the  growth  of  an 
immediate,  independent,  and  disinterested  repugnance 
to  what  is  uniformly  denounced  and  punished  as  being 
wrong.  This  is  a  state  or  disposition  of  mind  forming 
part  of  a  well-developed  conscience  ;  it  may  grow  up 
spontaneously  under  the  experience  of  social  authority, 
and  it  may  be  aided  by  inculcation  ;  it  may,  however, 
also  fail  to  show  itself.  It  is  the  parallel  of  the  much- 
quoted  love  of  money  for  itself;  but  is  not  so  facile  in 
its  growth.  For  one  thing,  the  mind  must  not  treat 
authority  as  an  enemy  to  be  counted  with,  and  to  be 
obeyed  only  when  we  cannot  do  better.  There  must 
be  a  cordial  acquiescence  in  the  social  system  as 
working  by  penalties ;  and  this  needs  the  concurrence 
of  good  impulses  with  reflection  on  the  evils  that  man- 
kind are  rescued  from.  It  is  by  being  favourably  situ- 
ated in  the  world,  as  well  as  by  being  sympathetically 


Co  PLAY   OF   motives: — THE   SENSES. 

disposed,  that  we  contract  this  repugnance  to  immoral 
acts  in  themselves,  without  reference  to  the  penalties 
that  are  behind ;  and  thus  perform  our  duties  when  out 
of  sight,  not  in  the  narrowness  of  the  letter,  but  in  the 
fulness  of  the  spirit.  It  would  take  some  considera- 
tion to  show  how  the  schoolmaster  might  co-operate  in 
furthering  this  special  growth. 

In  Education  there  has  to  be  encountered  at  every 
turn  the  play  of  Motives.  Now,  the  theory  of  Motives 
is  the  theory  of  Sensation,  Emotion  and  Will ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  the  psychology  of  the  Sensitive  and  the 
Active  Powers. 

PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :— THE   SENSES. 

The  pleasures,  the  pains  and  the  privations  of  the 
Senses  are  the  earliest  and  the  most  unfailing,  if  not  also 
the  strongest,  of  motives.  Besides  their  bearings  on 
self-preservation,  they  are  a  principal  standing  dish  in 
life's  feast. 

It  is  when  the  Senses  are  looked  at  on  the  side  of 
feeling,  or  as  pleasure  and  pain,  that  the  defectiveness  of 
the  current  classification  into  five  is  most  evident.  For, 
although,  in  the  point  of  view  of  knowledge  or  intellect, 
the  five  senses  are  the  really  important  approaches  to 
the  mind,  yet,  in  the  view  of  feeling  or  pleasure  and  pain, 
the  omission  of  the  varied  organic  susceptibility  leaves 
a  wide  gap  in  the  handling  of  the  subject.  Some  of 
our  very  strongest  pleasures  and  pains  grow  out  of 
the  region  of  organic  life — Digestion,  Circulation,  Re- 
spiration, Muscular  and  Nervous  integrity  or  derange- 
ment. 


MUSCLES. — NERVES.  6 1 

In  exerting  influence  over  human  beings  this  depart- 
ment of  sensibility  is  a  first  resource.  It  can  be  counted 
on  with  more  certainty  than  perhaps  any  other.  Indeed, 
almost  all  the  punishments  of  a  purely  physical  kind  fall 
within  the  domain  of  the  organic  sensations.  What  is 
il  that  makes  punishment  formidable  but  its  threatening 
the  very  vitals  of  the  system  ?  It  is  the  lower  degree  of 
what,  in  a  higher  degree,  takes  away  life. 

For  example,  the  Muscular  System  is  the  seat  of  a 
mass  of  sensibility,  pleasurable  and  painful :  the  plea- 
sures of  healthy  exercise,  the  pains  of  privation  of  exer- 
cise, and  the  pains  of  extreme  fatigue.  In  early  life, 
when  all  the  muscles,  as  well  as  the  senses,  are  fresh, 
the  muscular  organs  are  very  largely  connected  both 
with  enjoyment  and  with  suffering.  To  accord  full  scope 
to  the  activity  of  the  fresh  organs  is  a  gratification  that 
may  take  the  form  of  a  rich  reward  ;  to  refuse  this  scope 
is  the  infliction  of  misery ;  to  compel  exercise  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  powers  is  still  greater  misery.  Our 
penal  discipline  adopts  the  two  forms  of  pain  :  in  the 
milder  treatment  of  the  young,  the  irksomeness  of  re- 
straint ;  in  the  severer  methods  with  the  full-grown,  the 
torture  of  fatigue. 

Again,  the  Nervous  System  is  subject  to  organic  de- 
pression ;  and  certain  of  our  pains  are  due  to  this  cause. 
The  well-known  state  denominated  *  Tedium  '  is  nervous 
uneasiness  ;  and  is  caused  by  undue  exercise  of  any 
portion  of  the  nervous  system.  In  its  extreme  forms,  it 
is  intolerable  wretchedness.  It  is  the  suffering  caused 
by  penal  impositions  or  tasks,  by  confinement,  and  by 
monotony  of  all  kinds.  The  acute  sufferings  of  the 
nervous  system,  as  growing  out  of  natural  causes,  are 


62  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :—  THE   SENSES. 

represented  by  neuralgic  pains.  It  is  in  graduated 
artificial  inflictions,  operating  directly  on  the  nerves  by 
means  of  electricity,  that  we  may  look  for  the  physical 
punishments  of  the  future,  that  are  to  displace  floggings 
and  muscular  torture. 

The  interests  of  Nourishment,  as  against  privation 
of  food,  are  necessarily  bound  up  with  a  large  volume 
of  enjoyment  and  suffering.  Starvation,  deficiency  and 
inferiority  of  food,  are  connected  with  depression  and 
misery  of  the  severest  kind,  inspiring  the  dread  that  most 
effectually  stimulates  human  beings  to  work,  to  beg,  or 
to  steal.  The  obverse  condition  of  a  rich  and  abundant 
diet  is  in  itself  an  almost  sufficient  basis  of  enjoyment. 
The  play  of  motives  between  those  extremes  enables  us 
to  put  forth  an  extensive  sway  over  human  conduct. 

An  instructive  distinction  may  be  made  between 
Privation  and  Hunger  ;  likewise  between  their  opposites. 
Privation  is  the  positive  deficiency  of  nourishing  material 
in  the  blood  ;  Hunger  is  the  craving  of  the  stomach  at 
its  usual  times  of  being  supplied,  and  is  a  local  sensi- 
bility, perhaps  very  acute,  but  not  marked  by  the  pro- 
found wretchedness  of  inanition.  There  may  be  plenty 
of  material  to  go  on  with,  although  we  are  suffering  from 
stomachic  hunger.  Punishing,  for  once,  by  the  loss  of  a 
meal  out  of  the  three  or  four  in  the  day  is  unimportant 
as  regards  the  general  vigour,  yet  very  telling  as  a 
motive.  Absolutely  to  diminish  the  available  nutriment 
of  the  system  is  a  measure  of  great  severity ;  to  inflict  a 
passing  hunger  is  not  the  same  thing. 

When  we  unite  the  acute  pleasures  of  the  palate  with 
stomachic  relish  and  the  exhilaration  of  abundance  of 
food-material  in   a  healthy  frame,  we  count  up  a  large 


ORGANIC   SENSIBILITIES.  63 

mass  of  pleasurable  sensibility.  Between  the  lowest  de- 
mands of  subsistence  and  the  highest  luxuries  of  affluent 
means  there  is  a  great  range,  available  as  an  instru- 
mentality of  control  in  the  discipline  of  the  young.  The 
usual  regimen  being  something  considerably  above  neces- 
saries, and  yet  beneath  the  highest  pitch  of  indulgence, 
room  is  given  to  operate  both  by  reduction  and  by  in- 
crease of  luxury,  without  either  mischief  or  pampering  ; 
and  as  the  sensibility  in  early  years  is  very  keen  under 
those  heads,  the  motive  power  is  great.  Having  in 
view  the  necessities  of  discipline  with  the  young,  the 
habitual  regimen  in  food  should  not  be  pitched  either  too 
low  or  too  high  to  permit  of  such  variations.  It  is  the 
misfortune  of  poverty  that  this  means  of  influence  is 
greatly  wanting  ;  the  next  lower  depth  to  the  delinquent 
child  is  the  application  of  the  rod. 

These  are  the  chief  departments  of  Organic  Sensi- 
bility that  contain  the  motives  made  use  of  in  reward 
and  punishment.  The  inflictions  of  caning  and  flogging 
operate  upon  the  organ  of  the  sense  of  touch,  yet,  in 
reality,  the  efl"ect  is  one  to  be  classed  among  the  pains 
of  organic  life,  rather  than  among  tactile  sensations  ;  it 
is  a  pain  resulting  from  injury  or  violence  to  the  tissue 
in  the  first  instance,  and,  if  carried  far,  is  destructive  of 
life.  Like  all  physical  acute  pains,  it  is  a  powerful  de- 
terring influence,  and  is  doubtless  the  favourite  punish- 
ment of  every  age  and  every  race  of  mankind.  The 
limitations  to  its  use  demand  a  rigorous  handling  ;  but 
the  consideration  of  these  is  mixed  up  with  motives 
afterwards  to  be  adverted  to. 

The  ordinary  five  Senses  contain,  in  addition  to  their 
intellectual  functions,  many  considerable  sensibilities  to 


64  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — THE   EMOTIONS. 

pleasure  and  pain.  The  pleasures  can  be  largely  made 
use  of  as  incentives  to  conduct.  The  pains  might,  of 
course,  be  also  employed  in  the  same  way  ;  but,  with  the 
exceptions  already  indicated,  they  very  rarely  are.  We 
do  not  punish  by  bad  odours,  nor  by  bitter  tastes. 
E^^arsh  and  grating  sounds  may  be  very  torturing,  but 
they  are  not  used  in  discipline.  The  pains  of  sight  reach 
the  highest  acuteness,  but  as  punishment  they  are  found 
only  in  the  most  barbarous  codes. 

Postponing  a  review  of  the  principles  of  punishment 
generally,  we  approach  the  most  perplexing  department 
of  motives — the  higher  Emotions.  Few  of  the  simple 
sensational  effects  are  obtained  in  purity,  that  is,  without 
the  intermingling  of  emotions. 

PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — THE  EMOTIONS, 

One  large  department  of  Psychology  is  made  up  of 
the  classification,  definition,  and  analysis  of  the  Emotions. 
The  applications  of  a  complete  theory  of  Emotion  are 
numerous,  and  the  systematic  expansion  must  be  such 
as  to  cope  with  all  these  applications.  We  here  narrow 
the  subject  to  what  is  indispensable  for  the  play  of 
motives  in  Education. 

First  of  all,  it  is  necessary  to  take  note  of  the  large 
region  of  Sociability,  comprising  the  Social  Emotions 
and  Affections.  Next  is  the  department  of  anti-social 
feeling — Anger,  Malevolence,  and  Lust  of  Domination. 
Taking  both  the  sources  and  the  ramifications  of  these 
two  leading  groups,  we  cover  perhaps  three-fourths  of  all 
the  sensibility  that  rises  above  the  Senses  proper.  They 
do  not,  indeed,  exhaust  the  fountains  of  emotion,  but  they 


REVIEW   OF   THE   EMOTIONS.  6$ 

leave  no  others  that  can  rank  as  of  first-class  importance, 
except  through  derivation  from  them  and  the  senses 
together. 

The  region  of  Fine  Art  comprises  a  large  compass  of 
pleasurable  feeling,  with  corresponding  susceptibilities  to 
pain.  Some  of  this  is  sensation  proper,  being  the  plea- 
sures of  the  two  higher  senses  ;  some  of  it  is  due  to  asso- 
ciations with  the  interests  of  all  the  senses  (Beauty  of 
Utility)  ;  a  certain  portion  may  be  called  intellectual  — 
the  perception  of  unity  in  variety  ;  whilst  the  still  largest 
share  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  two  great  sources 
above  described. 

The  Intellect  generally  is  a  source  of  various  gratifi- 
cations and  also  of  sufferings  that  are  necessarily  mixed 
up  with  our  intellectual  education.  Both  the  delights  of 
attained  knowledge  and  the  pains  of  intellectual  labour 
have  to  be  carefully  counted  with  by  every  instructor. 

The  pleasures  of  Action  or  Activity  are  a  class  greatly 
pressed  into  the  educational  service,  and,  therefore,  de- 
mand special  consideration. 

The  names  Self-esteem,  Pride,  Vanity,  Love  of 
Praise,  express  powerful  sentiments,  whose  analysis  is 
attended  with  much  subtlety.  They  are  largely  ap- 
pealed to  by  everyone  that  has  to  exercise  control  over 
human  beings.  To  gratify  them,  is  to  impart  copious 
pleasure ;  to  thwart  or  wound  them,  is  to  inflict  corre- 
sponding pain. 

Mention  has  not  yet  been  made  of  one  genus  of 
emotion,  formidable  as  a  source  of  pain  and  as  a  motive 
to  activity,  namely.  Fear  or  Terror.  Only  in  the  shape 
of  reaction  or  relief,  is  it  a  source  of  pleasure.  The  skilful 
management  of  this  sensibility  has  much  to  do  with  the 


66  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — TERROR. 

efficient  control  of  all  sentient  creatures,  and  still  more 
with  the  saving  of  gratuitous  misery. 

Our  rapid  review  of  these  various  sources  of  emotion, 
together  with  others  of  a  minor  kind,  proposes  to  deal 
once  for  all,  and  in  the  best  manner,  with  the  various 
educational  questions  that  turn  upon  the  operation  of 
motives.  We  shall  have  to  remark  upon  prevailing  ex- 
aggerations on  some  heads,  and  upon  the  insufficient 
stress  laid  on  others  ;  and  we  shall  endeavour  to  unfold 
in  just  proportions  the  entire  compass  of  our  emotional 
susceptibilities  available  for  the  purposes  of  the  teacher. 

The  Emotion  of  Terror. 

The  state  of  mind  named  Terror  or  Fear  is  described 
briefly  as  a  state  of  extreme  misery  and  depression, 
prostrating  the  activity  and  causing  exaggeration  of 
ideas  in  whatever  is  related  to  it.  It  is  an  addition  to 
pain  pure  and  simple — the  pain  of  a  present  infliction. 
It  is  roused  by  the  foretaste  or  prospect  of  evil,  especially 
if  that  is  great  in  amount,  and  still  more  if  it  is  of  un- 
certain nature. 

As  far  as  Education  is  concerned,  terror  is  an  incident 
of  the  infliction  of  punishment.  We  may  work  by  the 
motive  of  evil  without  producing  the  state  of  terror,  as 
when  the  evil  is  slight  and  well-defined  ;  a  small  under- 
stood privation,  a  moderate  dose  of  irksomeness,  may  be 
salutary  and  preventive,  without  any  admixture  of  the 
quakings  and  misery  of  fear.  A  severe  infliction  in 
prospect  will  induce  fear  ;  the  more  so  that  the  subject 
does  not  know  how  severe  it  is  to  be. 

In  the  higher  moral  Education,  the  management  of 


EVILS   OF   TERROR   AS   A    MOTIVE.  6/ 

Fear  is  of  the  utmost  consequence.  So  great  are  the 
evils  attendant  on  the  use  of  it,  that  it  should  be  reserved 
for  the  last  resort.  Fear  wastes  the  energy  and  scatters 
the  thoughts,  and  thus  is  ruinous  to  the  interests  of 
mental  progress.  Its  one  certain  result  is  to  paralyze 
and  arrest  action,  or  else  to  concentrate  force  in  some 
single  ^oint,  at  the  cost  of  general  debility.  The  tyrant, 
working  by  terror,  disarms  rebelliousness,  but  fails  to 
procure  energetic  service. 

The  worst  of  all  modes  and  instruments  of  discipline 
is  the  employment  of  spiritual,  ghostly,  or  superstitious 
terrors.  Unless  it  were  to  scourge  and  thwart  the 
greatest  of  criminals — the  disturbers  of  the  peace  of 
mankind — hardly  anything  justifies  the  terrors  of  super- 
stition. On  a  small  scale,  we  know  what  it  is  to  frighten 
children  with  ghosts  ;  on  a  larger  scale,  we  have  the  in- 
fluence of  religions  dealing  almost  exclusively  in  the 
fear  of  another  life. 

Like  the  other  gross  passions,  Terror  admits  of  being 
renned  upon  and  toned  down,  till  it  becomes  simply  a 
gentle  stimulation  ;  and  the  reaction  more  than  compen- 
sates for  the  misery.  The  greatest  efforts  in  this  direction 
are  found  in  the  artistic  handling  of  fear,  as  in  the 
sympathetic  fears  of  tragedy,  and  in  the  passing  terrors 
of  a  well-constructed  plot.  In  the  moral  bearings  of  the 
emotions,  its  refined  modes  are  shown  in  the  fear  of 
giving  pain  or  offence  to  one  that  we  love,  respect,  ot 
venerate.  There  may  be  a  considerable  degree  of  the 
depressing  element  even  in  this  situation  ;  yet  the  effect 
is  altogether  wholesome  and  ennobling.  All  superiors 
should  aspire  to  be  feared  in  this  manner. 

Timiditv,  or  susceptibility  to  fear,  is  one  of  the  noted 


68  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  r^SOCI A L   EMOTIONS. 

differences  of  character  ;  and  this  difference  is  to  be 
taken  into  account  in  disciph'ne.  The  absence  of  gene- 
ral vigour,  bodily  and  mental,  is  marked  by  timidity  ; 
and  the  state  may  also  be  the  result  of  long  bad  usage, 
and  of  perverted  views  of  the  world.  In  the  way  of 
culture,  or  of  high  exertion  in  any  form,  little  is  to  be 
expected  from  thoroughly  timid  natures  ;  they  can  be 
easily  governed,  so  far  as  concerns  sins  of  commission, 
but  their  omissions  are  not  equally  remediable. 

The  conquest  of  superstitious  fears  is  one  of  the 
grandest  objects  of  education  taken  in  its  widest  com- 
pass. It  cannot  be  accomplished  by  any  direct  incul- 
cation  ;  it  is  one  of  the  incidental  and  most  beneficial 
results  of  the  exact  study  of  nature,  in  other  words, 
science. 

The  Social  Motives. 

This  is  perhaps  the  most  extensive  and  the  least 
involved  of  all  the  emotional  influences  at  work  in 
Education. 

The  pleasures  of  Love,  Affection,  Mutual  Regard, 
Sympathy,  or  Sociability,  make  up  the  foremost  satis- 
faction of  human  life  ;  and,  as  such,  are  a  standing  object 
of  desire,  pursuit,  and  fruition.  Sociability  is  a  wholly 
distinct  fact  from  the  prime  supports  of  existence  and 
from  the  pleasures  of  the  five  senses,  and  is  not,  in  my 
opinion,  resolvable  into  those,  however  deeply  we  may 
analyze  it,  or  however  far  back  we  may  trace  the  histori- 
cal evolution  of  the  mind.  .Nevertheless,  as  the  supports 
of  life  and  the  pure  sense  agreeables  and  exemptions, 
come  to  us  in  great  part  through  the  medium  of  fellow- 
beings,  the  value  of  the  social  regards  receives  from  this 


THE  INTENSE   EMOTIONS.  69 

cause  an  enormous  augmentation,  and,  in  the  total, 
counts  for  one  paramount  object  of  human  soHcitude. 
It  would  appear  strange  if  this  motive  could  ever  be 
overlooked  by  the  educator,  or  by  anyone ;  yet  there 
are  theories  and  methods  that  treat  it  as  of  inferior 
account 

The  vast  aggregate  of  social  feeling  is  made  up  of 
the  intenser  elements  of  sexual  and  parental  love,  and 
the  select  attachments  in  the  way  of  friendship,  together 
with  the  more  diffused  sentiments  towards  the  masses  of 
human  beings.  The  motive  power  of  the  feelings  in 
education  may  be  well  exemplified  in  the  intense  exam- 
ples ;  we  can  see  in  these  both  the  merits  and  the  defects 
of  the  social  stimulus.  The  Phcedrtts  of  Plato  is  a  re- 
markable ide^l  picture  of  philosophy  prompted  by  Eros, 
in  the  Grecian  form  of  attachment.  The  ordinary  love  of 
the  sexes,  in  our  time,  does  not  furnish  many  instances 
of  the  mutual  striving  after  high  culture ;  it  may  be  left 
out  of  account  in  the  theory  of  early  education.  We 
frequently  find  mothers  applying  to  studies  that  they 
feel  no  personal  attraction  for,  in  order  to  assist  in  the 
progress  of  their  children.  This  is  much  better  than 
nothing  ;  a  secondary  end  may  be  the  initiation  and 
discovery  of  a  taste  that  at  last  is  self-subsisting. 

The  intense  emotions,  from  the  very  fact  of  their 
intensity,  are  unsuited  to  the  promptings  of  severe  cul- 
ture. The  hardest  studious  work,  the  laying  of  foun- 
dations, should  be  over  before  the  flame  of  sexual  and 
parental  passion  is  kindled  ;  when  this  is  at  its  height  the 
intellectual  power  is  in  abeyance,  or  else  it  is  diverted 
from  its  regular  course.  The  mutual  influence  of  two 
lovers  is  not  educative,  for  want  of  the  proper  conditions 


yo  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  : — SOCIAL   EMOTIONS. 

No  doubt  considerable  efforts  are  inspired  ;  but  there  is 
seldom  sufficient  elevation  of  view  on  the  one  side,  or 
sufficient  adaptability  on  the  other,  to  make  the  mutual 
influence  what  Plato  and  the  romancists  conceive  as 
possible.  By  very  different  and  inferior  compliances 
on  both  sides,  the  feeling  may  be  kept  alive ;  if  more 
is  wanted,  it  dies  away. 

The  favourable  conjunction  for  study  and  mental 
culture  in  general  is  friendship  between  two,  or  a  small 
number,  each  naturally  smitten  with  the  love  of  know- 
ledge for  its  own  sake,  and  basing  their  attachment  on 
that  circumstance.  A  certain  amount  of  mutual  liking 
in  other  respects  perfects  the  relationship  ;  but  the  over- 
powering sensuous  regards  of  the  Platonic  couple  do  not 
furnish  the  requisite  soil  for  high  culture.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  those  attachments,  as  they  existed  in  Greece, 
prompted  to  signal  instances  of  self-devotion  in  the  form 
of  surrendering  worldly  goods  and  life  itself;  and  this  is 
the  highest  fruit  that  they  have  yielded  in  later  times. 

The  remaining  aspect  of  sociability — the  influence  of 
the  general  multitude — holds  out  the  most  powerful  and 
permanent  motive  to  conduct,  and  is  largely  felt  in  edu- 
cation. In  the  presence  of  an  assembly  the  individual 
is  roused,  agitated,  swayed  ;  the  thrill  of  numbers  is 
electric ;  in  whatever  direction  the  influence  tends,  it  is 
almost  irresistible.  Any  effijrt  made  in  the  sight  of  a 
host  is,  by  that  circumstance,  totally  altered  in  charac- 
ter ;  and  all  impressions  are  very  much  deepened. 

Having  in  view  this  ascendancy  of  numbers,  we  can 
make  a  step  towards  computing  the  efficacy  of  class 
teaching,  public  schools,  and  institutions  where  great 
multitudes  are  brought  together.     The  power  exercised 


TENDENCY  TO  A  UNIFORM  LEVEL.  7 1 

is  of  a  mixed  character ;  and  the  several  elements  admit 
of  being  singled  out.  The  social  motive,  in  its  pure 
form  of  gregarious  attraction  and  mutual  sympathy, 
does  not  stand  alone.  Supposing  it  did,  the  effect  would 
be  to  supply  a  strong  stimulus  in  favour  of  everything 
that  was  supported  by  common  consent ;  the  individual 
would  be  urged  to  attain  the  level  of  the  mass.  The 
drill  of  a  regiment  of  soldiers  corresponds  very  nearly 
to  this  situation  ;  every  man  is  under  the  eye  of  the 
whole,  and  aspires  to  be  what  the  rest  are,  and  not 
much,  if  anything,  beyond  :  the  sympathetic  co-opera- 
tion of  the  mass  guides,  stimulates,  and  rewards  the 
exertion  of  the  individual.  Even  if  it  were  the  distina- 
tion  of  a  soldier  to  act  as  an  isolated  individual,  still 
his  education  would  be  most  efficaciously  conducted  on 
the  mass  system ;  being  finished  off  by  a  certain  amount 
of  separate  exercise  to  prepare  for  the  detached  or  inde- 
pendent position. 

In  all  cases  of  teaching  numbers  together,  the  social 
feeling,  in  the  pure  form  now  assumed,  is  frequently 
operative  ;  and  the  results  are  as  stated.  The  tendency 
is  to  secure  a  certain  approved  level  of  attainment ;  those 
that  are  disinclined  of  themselves  to  work  up  to  that 
level  are  pushed  on  by  the  influence  of  the  mass.  If 
there  were  no  other  strong  passions  called  out  in  society, 
the  general  result  would  be  a  kind  of  Communism  or 
Socialism  characterized  by  mediocrity  and  dead  level ; 
everything  correct  up  to. a  certain  point,  but  no  indivi- 
dual superiority  or  distinction. 

The  influence  of  society  as  the  dispenser  of  collective 
good  and  evil  things,  in  addition  to  its  operation  in  the 
affections  and  the  sympathies,  is  necessarily  all-powerful  in 
7 


72  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — MALIGN    EMOTIOT^'S. 

every  direction.  If  this  stimulus  were  always  to  coincide 
with  high  mental  culture,  the  effect  would  be  something 
that  the  imagination  hardly  dares  to  shadow  forth.  It 
is,  however,  a  power  that  may  be  propitiated  by  many 
different  means,  including  shams  and  evasions  ;  and  the 
bearing  upon  culture  is  only  occasional.  Nevertheless, 
the  social  rewards  have  often  served  to  foster  the  highest 
genius—  the  oratory  of  Demosthenes,  and  the  poetry  of 
Horace  and  of  Virgil — that  form  of  genius  that  is  noto- 
riously allied  with  toil  and  perseverance  of  the  most 
arduous  kind.  The  same  influence,  working  by  disap- 
probation and  approbation  combined,  is,  as  I  contend, 
the  principal  generating  source  of  the  ordinary  moral 
sentiments  of  mankind,  and  the  inspiration  of  excep- 
tional virtues. 


The  Anti- Social  and  Malign  Emotions. 

The  emotions  of  Anger,  Hatred,  Antipathy,  Rivalry, 
Contumely,  have  reference  to  other  beings,  no  less  than 
Love  or  Affection  ;  but  in  an  opposite  way.  In  spite  of 
the  painful  incidents  in  their  manifestation — the  offence  in 
the  first  instance,  and  next  the  dangers  of  reprisal — they 
are  a  source  of  immediate  pleasure,  often  not  inferior, 
and  sometimes  superior,  in  amount  to  the  pleasures  of 
amity  and  gregarious  co-operation.  In  numerous  in- 
stances people  are  willing  to  forego  social  and  sympa- 
thetic delights  to  indulge  in  the  pleasures  of  malignity. 

In  the  work  of  discipline  the  present  class  of  emotions 
occasion  much  solicitude.  They  can  in  certain  ways 
be  turned  to  good  account,  but  for  the  most  part  the 


CHECKS   TO   ANGER.  73 

business  of  the  educator  and  the  moralist  is  to  counter- 
work them,  as  being  fraught  with  unalloyed  evil. 

Being  a  fitful  or  explosive  passion,  Anger  should,  as 
far  as  possible,  be  checked  or  controlled  in  the  young ; 
but  there  are  no  adequate  means  of  doing  so  short  of 
the  very  highest  influence  of  the  parent  or  the  teacher. 
The  restraint  induced  by  the  presence  of  a  dread  supe- 
rior at  the  time  does  not  sink  deep  enough  to  make  a 
habit ;  opportunities  are  sought  and  found  to  vent  the 
passion  with  safety.  The  cultivation  of  the  sympathies 
and  the  affections  is  what  alone  copes  with  angry 
passion,  whether  we  take  it  as  a  disturber  of  equa- 
nimity, or  as  the  prompter  of  wTong.  The  obverse  of  ill- 
temper  is  the  disposition  that  thinks  less  of  harm  done 
to  self,  and  more  of  harm  done  to  other  people ;  and 
if  we  can  do  anything  to  foster  this  disposition,  we 
thereby  reduce  the  sphere  of  malignant  passion.  The 
collateral  incentives  to  suppress  angry  passion  in- 
clude, besides  the  universal  remedy  of  disapprobation, 
an  appeal  to  the  sense  of  personal  dignity  and  to  the 
baneful  consequences  of  passionate  outbursts. 

The  worst  form  of  malignant  feeling  is  cold  and 
deliberate  delight  in  cruelty  ;  all  too  frequent,  especially 
in  the  young.  The  torturing  of  animals,  of  weak  and 
defenceless  human  beings,  is  the  spontaneous  outflow  of 
the  perennial  fountain  of  malevolence.  This  has  to  be 
checked,  if  need  be,  at  the  expense  of  considerable 
severity.  The  inflictions  practised  on  those  that  are 
able  to  recriminate  generally  find  their  own  remedy ;  and 
the  discipline  of  consequences  is  as  effectual  as  any.  By 
having  to  fight  our  equals,  we  are  taught  to  regulate  oul 
wrathful  and  cruel  propensities. 


74         PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :— MALIGN    EMOTIONS. 

The  intense  pleasure  of  victory  contains  the  sweet- 
ness of  malevolence,  heightened  by  some  other  ingre- 
dients. The  prostration  and  destruction  of  an  enemy  or 
a  rival  is,  no  doubt,  the  primary  situation  where  male- 
volent impulses  had  their  rise  ;  and  it  continues  to  be 
pel  haps  the  very  strongest  stimulant  of  the  human 
energies.  Notwithstanding  its  several  drawbacks,  we 
an.  obliged  to  give  it  a  place  among  motives  to  study 
and  mental  advancement.  In  the  fight  and  struggle  of 
party  contests,  the  pleasure  of  victory  enters  in  full 
flavour  ;  and  in  the  competitions  at  school,  the  same 
motive  is  at  work.  The  social  problem  of  restraining 
individuals  in  their  selfish  grasping  at  good  things — the 
mere  agreeables  and  exemptions  of  the  senses— is  ren- 
dered still  more  intractable  by  the  craving  for  the  smack 
of  malevolent  gratification.  Total  repression  has  been 
found  impossible  ;  End  ingenuity  has  devised  a  number 
of  outlets  that  are  more  or  less  compatible  with  the 
sacredness  of  mutual  rights. 

One  chief  outlet  for  the  malevolent  impulses  is  the 
avenging  of  wrong,  whether  private  or  public.  A  con- 
victed wrongdoer  is  punished  by  the  law,  and  the  indig- 
nation roused  by  the  crime  turns  to  gratification  at  the 
punishment.  In  the  theory  of  penal  retribution  some 
allowance  is  claim.ed  for  the  vindictive  satisfaction  of 
the  public.  To  think  only  of  the  prevention  of  crime 
and  the  reformation  of  criminals,  suppressing  all  re- 
sentful feeling,  is  a  thing  too  severe  and  ascetic  for 
human  nature  as  at  present  constituted.  The  privacy 
of  the  punishments  of  criminals,  in  our  modern  system, 
is  intended  to  keep  the  indulgence  within  bounds. 

A  wide  ideal  scope  is  given  to  our  resentful  pleasures 


PLAYFULNESS  AND   HUMOUR.  75 

in  history  and  in  romance ;  we  are  gratified  by  the  re- 
tribution inflicted  upon  the  authors  of  wrong.  Narra- 
tives of  evildoers  and  of  their  punishment  are  level  to 
the  meanest  capacity  ;  this  is  the  sort  of  history  that 
3iiits  even  the  imagination  of  children. 

The  highest  refinement  of  the  malevolent  gratifica- 
tion I  take  to  be  the  emotion  called  the  Ludicrous  and 
the  Comic.  There  is  a  laugh  of  vindictiveness,  hatred, 
and  derision,  that  carries  the  sentiment  as  far  as  it  can 
be  carried  without  blows.  But  there  is  also  the  laugh 
expressed  by  Playfulness  and  Humour,  in  which  the 
malignant  feeling  seems  almost  on  the  point  of  disap- 
pearing in  favour  of  the  amicable  sentiment.  It  is  of 
some  importance  to  understand  that  in  play,  fun,  and 
humour  there  is  a  delicate  counterpoise  of  opposing 
sentiments,  an  attempt  to  make  the  most  of  both  worlds 
■ — Love  and  Anger.  The  great  masterpieces  of  humour 
in  literature,  the  amenities  of  everyday  society,  the  in- 
nocent joyousness  of  laughter — all  attest  the  success  of 
the  hazardous  combination.  Nothing  could  better  show 
the  intensity  of  the  primitive  charm  of  malevolence 
than  the  unction  that  survives  after  it  is  attenuated  to 
the  condition  of  innocent  mirthfulness.  When  the  real 
exercise  of  the  destructive  propensity  is  not  to  be  had, 
creatures  endowed  with  emotions  still  relish  the  fictitious 
forms.  This  is  seen  remarkably  in  the  amicable  '  play ' 
of  puppies  and  kittens.  Not  being  endowed  with  much 
compass  of  the  caressing  acts,  they  show  their  love  by 
snarling  and  sham  biting  ;  in  which,  through  their  for 
tunate  self-restraint,  they  seem  to  enjoy  a  double  pleasure. 
In  the  play  of  children  there  is  the  same  employment 
of  tlie  forms  of  destructive  malevolence,  and,  so  long  as 


76  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — MALIGN   EMOTIO.NS. 

it  is  happily  balanced,  the  effect  is  highly  piquant.  By 
submitting  in  turn  to  be  victimized,  a  party  of  children 
can  secure,  at  a  moderate  cost  to  each,  the  zest  of  the 
malevolent  feeling ;  and  this  I  take  to  be  the  quintes- 
sence of  play. 

The  use  of  this  close  analysis  is  to  fix  attention  upon 
the  precarious  tenure  of  all  these  enjoyments,  and  to 
render  a  precise  reason  for  the  well-known  fact  that  play 
or  fun  is  always  on  the  eve  of  becoming  earnest ;  in  other 
words,  the  destructive  or  malevolent  element  is  in  con- 
stant danger  of  breaking  loose  from  its  checks,  and  of 
passing  from  fictitious  to  actual  inflictions.  The  play  of 
the  canine  and  the  feline  kind  often  degenerates  in  this 
fashion  ;  and  in  childish  and  youthful  amusements  it  is 
a  perpetual  rock  ahead. 

It  is  no  less  dangerous  to  indulge  people  in  too  much 
ideal  gratification  of  the  vindictive  sentiments.  Tales 
of  revenge  against  enemies  are  too  apt  to  cultivate  the 
malevolent  propensity.  Children,  it  is  true,  take  up  this 
theme  with  wonderful  alacrity ;  nevertheless,  it  is  a  species 
of  pampering  supplied  to  the  worst  emotions  instead  of 
the  best. 

One  other  bearing  of  Irascibility  on  Education  needs 
to  be  touched  upon.  When  disapproval  is  heightened  with 
Anger,  the  dread  inspired  is  much  greater.  The  victim 
anticipates  a .  more  severe  infliction  when  the  angry 
passion  has  been  roused  ;  hence  the  supposition  is 
natural  that  anger  is  an  aid  to  discipline.  This,  how- 
ever, needs  qualifying.  Of  course  any  increase  of 
severity  has  a  known  deterrent  effect,  with  whatever 
drawbacks  may  attend  ttie  excess.  But  anger  is  fitful; 
and,  therefore,  its  co-operation  mars  discipline  by  want 


REGULATED   ANGER.  -JJ 

of  measiwe,  and  want  of  consistency ;  when  the  fit  haj? 
passed,  the  mind  often  relapses  into  a  mood  unfavour- 
able to  a  proper  amount  of  repression. 

The  function  of  anger  in  discipline  may  be  something 
very  grand,  provided  the  passion  can  be  controlled. 
There  is  a  fine  attitude  of  indignation  against  wrong 
that  may  be  assumed  with  the  best  effect.  It  supposes 
the  most  perfect  self-command,  and  is  no  more  excited 
than  seems  befitting  the  occasion.  Mankind  would  not 
be  contented  to  see  the  bench  of  Justice  occupied  by  a 
calculating  machine  that  turned  up  a  penalty  of  five 
pounds,  or  a  month's  imprisonment,  when  certain  facts 
were  dropped  in  at  the  hopper.  A  regulated  expression 
of  angry  feeling  is  a  force  in  itself.  Neither  containing 
fitfulness,  nor  conducting  to  excess  of  infliction,  it  is  the 
awe-inspiring  personation  of  Justice,  and  is  often  suffi- 
cient to  quell  insubordination. 

The  Emotion  of  Power. 

The  state  named  the  feeling  or  emotion  of  Power 
expresses  a  first-class  motive  of  the  human  mind.  It  is, 
however,  shown,  with  great  probability,  not  to  be  an  in- 
dependent source  of  emotion.  It  very  often  consists  of 
a  direct  reference  to  possessions  or  worldly  abundance. 
In  other  cases,  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  pleasure  of  male- 
volent infliction  is  an  element.  The  love  of  domineering, 
or  subjecting  other  people's  wills,  would  be  much  less 
attractive  than  it  is,  if  malevolent  possibilities  were 
wholly  left  out. 

Power  in  the  actual  is  given  by  bodily  and  mental 
superiority,   by  wealth,   and   by   offices   of    command 


78  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — POWER. 

Hence  it  can  be  enjoyed  in  any  high  degree  only  by  a 
few.  It  is,  however,  capable  of  great  ideal  expansion ; 
we  can  derive  gratification  from  the  contemplation  oi 
superior  power,  and  the  outlets  for  this  are  numerous, 
including  not  merely  the  operations  of  living  beings, 
but  the  forces  of  inanimate  nature.  For  example,  the 
Sublime  is  an  ideal  of  great  might  or  power. 

We  have  now  almost,  but  not  quite,  led  up  to  the 
much-urged  educational  motive,  the  gratification  of  the 
sense  of  self-activity  in  the  pupils.  This  must  afterwards 
undergo  a  very  searching  examination.  Let  us,  how 
ever,  first  briefly  review  another  leading  class  of  well- 
marked  feelings,  those  designated  by  the  familiar  terms 
— Self-complacency,  Pride,  Vanity,  Love  of  Applause, 
Whether  these  be  simple  or  compound  in  their  nature, 
they  represent  feelings  of  great  intensity,  and  they  are 
specially  invoked  in  the  sphere  of  education. 

T/ie  Emotions  of  Self. 

*  Self  is  a  very  wide  word.  '  Selfish,'  '  Self-seeking,' 
*  Self-love,'  might  be  employed  without  bringing  any 
new  emotions  to  the  front.  All  the  sources  of  pleasure, 
and  all  the  exemptions  from  pain,  that  have  been  or 
might  be  enumerated,  under  the  Senses  and  the  Emo- 
tions, being  totalized,  could  be  designated  as  '  Self  or 
'  Self-interest'  But  connected  with  the  terms  Self- 
esteem,  Self-complacency,  Pride,  Vanity,  Love  of  Praise, 
there  are  new  varieties  of  feeling,  albeit  they  are  but 
offshoots  from  some  of  those  already  given.  It  is  not 
our  business  to  trace  the  precise  derivation  of  these 
complex  modes,  except  to  aid  in  estimating  their  value 
as  a  distinct  class  of  motives. 


SELF-GRATULATION. — LOVE  OF   PRAISE,  79 

There  is  an  undoubted  pleasure  in  finding  in  our- 
selves some  of  those  qualities  that,  seen  in  other  men, 
call  forth  our  love,  admiration,  reverence,  or  esteem. 
The  names  self-complacency,  self-gratulation,  self-esteem, 
indicate  emotions  of  no  little  force.  They  have  a  good 
influence  in  promoting  the  attainment  of  excellence  ; 
their  defect  is  ascribable  to  our  enormous  self-partiality : 
for  which  cause  they  are  usually  concealed  from  the 
jealous  gaze  of  our  fellows.  It  is  only  on  very  special 
occasions  that  persuasion  is  made  to  operate  through 
these  powerful  feelings  ;  they  are  too  ready  to  turn  round 
and  make  demands  that  cannot  be  complied  with. 

A  still  higher  form  of  self-reflected  sentiment  is  that 
designated  by  the  Love  of  Praise  and  Admiration.  We 
necessarily  feel  an  enhanced  delight  when  our  own  good 
opinion  of  self  is  echoed  and  sustained  by  the  expres- 
sions of  others.  This  is  one  of  the  most  stirring  influ- 
ences that  man  can  exert  over  man.  It  exists  in  many 
gradations,  according  to  our  love,  regard,  or  admiration 
for  the  persons  bestowing  it,  as  well  as  our  dependence 
upon  them,  and  according  to  the  number  joining  in  the 
tribute. 

The  bestowal  of  praise  is  an  act  of  justice  to  real 
merit,  and  should  take  place  apart  from  ulterior  consider- 
ations. But  in  rewarding,  as  in  punishing,  we  cannot 
help  looking  beyond  the  present ;  we  have  in  our  eye 
merits  that  are  yet  to  be  achieved.  The  fame  that 
attends  intellectual  eminence  is  an  incentive  to  study, 
and  the  educator  has  this  great  instrument  at  his  com- 
mand. 

Praise,  to  be  effectual  and  safe,  has  to  be  carefully 
apportioned,  so  as  to  approve  itself  to  all  concerned.     As 


8o  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :—  SELF. 

the  act  of  piaising  does  not  terminate  with  the  moment, 
but  establishes  claims  for  the  future,  thoughtless  profusion 
of  compliment  defeats  itself.  Praise  may  operate  in  the 
form  of  warm  kindly  expression,  and  no  more  ;  in  which 
sense  it  is  an  offering  of  affection,  and  has  a  value  in 
that  character  alone.  A  pleased  smile  is  a  moral  in- 
fluence. 

Discipline,  properly  so  called,  works  in  the  direction 
of  pain  ;  pleasures  are  therein  viewed  in  their  painful 
obverse.  The  positive  value  of  delights  is  of  conse- 
quence only  as  the  starting-point  wherefrom  to  count 
the  efficacy  of  deprivations.  The  pains  opposed  to  the 
pleasures  of  Self-esteem  and  Praise  are  among  the  most 
powerful  weapons  in  the  armoury  of  the  disciplinarian. 
They  are  the  chief  reliance  of  such  as  deprecate  corporal 
inflictions.  Bentham's  elaborate  scheme  of  discipline 
in  the  *  Chrestomathia '  is  a  manipulation  of  the  mo^ 
tives  of  Praise  and  Dispraise,  which  he  would  fain  make 
us  believe  to  be  all-sufficient. 

Of  the  two  divisions  of  the  present  class  of  emotions, 
namely.  Self-esteem  on  the  one  hand,  and  Desire  of 
Praise  on  the  other,  the  opposite  of  the  first — Self- 
reproach,  Self-humbling — is  very  little  under  foreign 
influence.  To  induce  people  to  think  meanly  of  them- 
selves is  no  easy  task  ;  with  the  mass  of  human  beings 
it  is  well-nigh  hopeless.  Any  success  that  attends  the 
endeavour  is  to  be  traced  to  the  second  member  of  the 
class  under  discussion,  namely,  Dispraise,  Depreciation. 
There  is  no  mistaking  our  aim  here  ;  we  can  make  our 
power  felt  in  this  form,  whether  it  has  the  other  effect  or 
not.  People  live  so  much  on  one  another's  good  opinion 
that  the  remission  tells  in  an  instant;  from   the  simple 


LOVE   OF   KNOWLEDGE.  8 1 

abatement  or  loss  of  estimation  there  is  a  descent  into 
the  depths  of  disesteem  with  a  result  of  unspeakable 
suffering.  The  efforts  that  the  victim  makes  to  right 
himself  under  censure  only  show  how  keenly  it  is  felt. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  on  the  delicate  handling 
of  this  instrument  must  depend  the  highest  relinements 
of  moral  control. 

The  Emotions  of  Intellect. 

The  pleasurable  emotions  incident  to  the  exercise  of 
the  Intellectual  Powers  have  not  the  formidable  mag- 
nitude that  we  have  assigned  to  the  foregoing  groups. 
Indeed,  even  on  the  occasions  when  they  seem  to  burst 
forth  with  an  intense  glow,  we  can  discern  the  presence  of 
emanations  from  these  other  great  fountains  of  feeling. 

It  is  an  effort  of  prime  importance  to  trace  exhaus- 
tively the  inducements  and  allurements  to  intellectual 
exertion.  What  are  the  intrinsic  charms  of  knowledge, 
whether  in  pursuit  or  in  possession  ?  The  difficulty  of 
the  answer  is  increased,  rather  than  diminished,  by  the 
flow  of  fifty  years'  rhetoric. 

Knowledge  has  such  a  wide  compass,  embraces  such 
various  ingredients,  that,  until  we  discriminate  the  kinds 
of  it,  we  cannot  speak  precisely  either  of  the  charms  it 
possesses  or  of  the  absence  of  charm.  Some  sorts  of 
knowledge  are  interesting  to  everybody  ;  some  interest 
only  a  few.  The  serious  part  of  the  case  is,  that  the 
most  valuable  kinds  of  knowledge  are  often  the  least 
interesting. 

The  important  distinction  to  be  drawn  here  is  be- 
tween  Individual  or  Concrete  Knowledge,  and  General 
or   Abstract    Knowledge.     As   a   rule,    particulars   are 


82     TLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — EMOTIONS   OF   INTELLECT. 

interesting  as  well  as  easy ;  generals  uninteresting  and 
hard.  When  particulars  are  not  interesting,  it  is  often 
from  their  being  overshadowed  by  generals.  When 
geneials  are  made  interesting,  it  is  by  a  happy  reflected 
influence  upon  the  particulars.  It  would  serve  nearly 
all  the  purposes  of  the  teacher  to  know  the  best  means 
of  overcoming  the  repugnance  and  the  abstrusencss  of 
general  knowledge. 

Waiving  for  a  time  the  niceties  of  the  abstract  idea, 
and  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  being  readily  com- 
prehended, we  may  here  adduce  certain  motives  that  co- 
operate with  the  teacher's  endeavours  to  impress  it.  A 
little  attention,  however,  must  first  be  given  to  the 
various  kinds  of  interest  that  pertain  to  individual  or 
particular  facts. 

Any  kind  of  knowledge,  whether  particular  or  more 
or  less  general,  that  is  obviously  involved  in  any  of  the 
strong  feelings  or  emotions  that  we  have  passed  in  re- 
view, is  by  that  very  fact  interesting.  Now  a  great 
many  kinds  of  knowledge  are  implicated  with  those 
various  feelings.  To  avoid  pains,  and  obtain  pleasures, 
it  is  often  necessary  to  know  certain  things,  and  we 
willingly  apply  our  minds  to  learn  those  things  ;  and  the 
more  so,  the  more  evident  their  bearing  upon  the  grati- 
fication of  our  desires.  Avast  quantity  of  information 
respecting  the  world,  and  respecting  human  beings,  is 
gained  in  this  way ;  and  it  constitutes  an  important 
basis  of  even  the  highest  acquisitions. 

The  readiness  to  imbibe  this  immediately  fructifying 
knowledge  is  qualified  by  its  being  difficult  or  abstruse  ,* 
we  often  prefer  ignorance,  even  in  matters  of  consequence 
to  intellectual  labour. 


INTEREST   OF   UTILITY.  83 

All  the  natural  objects  that  bear  upon  our  subsistence, 
our  wants,  our  pleasures,  our  exemptions  from  pain,  are 
individually  interesting  to  us,  and  become  known  in 
respect  of  their  special  efficacy.  Our  food,  and  all  the 
means  of  procuring  it,  our  clothing  and  shelter,  our 
means  of  protection,  our  sense-stimulants,  are  studied 
with  avidity,  and "  remembered  with  ease.  This  depart- 
ment of  knowledge,  notwithstanding  its  vital  concern,  is 
apt  to  be  considered  as  grovelling ;  it  has,  however,  the 
recommendation  of  truth.  We  do  not  encourage  our- 
selves in  any  deceptions  in  such  matters  ;  and,  if  we 
make  mistakes,  it  is  owing  to  the  obscurity  of  the  casci 
rather  than  to  our  indifterence,  or  to  any  motive  for  per- 
verting the  facts.  Indeed,  this  is  the  department  that 
first  supplied  to  mankind  the  best  criterion  of  certainty. 

There  is  a  different  class  of  objects  that  appeal,  not 
to  the  more  pressing  utilities  of  subsistence,  safety,  and 
comfort,  but  to  the  gratifications  of  the  higher  senses  and 
the  emotions :  the  pleasures  of  touch,  sight  and  hearing  ; 
the  social  and  anti-social  emotions.  These  comprise  all 
the  more  striking  objects  of  the  world : — the  sun  and 
the  celestial  sphere,  the  earth's  gay  colouring,  sublime 
vabtness,  the  innumerable  objects — inanimate  and  ani- 
mate— that  tickle  some  sense  or  emotion.  In  proportion 
as  human  beings  are  set  free  from  the  struggle  for  sub- 
sistence, do  they  lay  themselves  open  to  these  influences, 
and  so  enlarge  the  sphere  of  natural  knowledge.  In- 
dividual things  become  interesting  and  known,  from 
inspiring  these  feelings.  The  culminating  interest,  how- 
ever,  is  in  living  beings,  and  especially  persons  of  our 
own  species.  The  intellectual  impressions  thus  left  upon 
us  are  lively,  but  not  necessarily  correct  to  the  facts. 


84     PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — EMOTIONS   OF   INTELLECT. 

n&wever  all  this  may  be,  it  is  to  individual  things 
that  we  must  refer  the  first  beginnings  of  knowledge,  the 
interest  and  the  facility  of  acquisition.  There  are  great 
inequalities  in  this  interest  and  consequent  facility. 
Many  individual  objects  inspire  no  interest  at  all  in  the 
first  instance  ;  while  some  of  them  become  interesting 
afterwards,  in  consequence  of  our  discovering  in  them 
relationships  to  things  of  interest. 

One  notable  distinction  among  the  objects  of  know- 
ledge is  the  distinction  between  movement  or  change, 
and  stillness  or  inaction.  It  is  movement  that  excites 
us  most ;  still  life  is  rendered  interesting  by  reference 
to  movement.  We  are  aroused  and  engrossed  by  all 
moving  things  ;  our  attention  is  turned  away  from  ob- 
jects at  rest  to  contemplate  movements  ;  and  we  imbibe 
with  great  rapidity  the  impressions  of  moving  objects. 

This  brief  survey  of  the  sphere  of  Individuality  and 
of  the  various  attractions  presented  by  individuals  is 
preparatory  to  the  consideration  of  the  most  arduous 
part  of  knowledge — the  knowledge  of  generals  or  Gene- 
rality. All  the  difficulties  of  the  higher  knowledge  have 
reference  to  the  generalizing  process — the  seeing  of  one 
in  many.  The  arts  of  the  teacher  and  the  expositor  are 
supremely  requisite  in  sweetening  the  toil  of  this  opera- 
tion. At  the  present  stage,  however,  the  question  is  to 
assign  the  motives  connected  with  general  knowledge  as 
distinct  from  individual  knowledge. 

General  knowledge,  represented  by  Science,  consists 
in  holding  together,  by  a  single  grasp,  whole  classes  of 
objects,  of  facts,  of  operations.  This  must,  by  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  be  more  severe  than  holding  an  in- 
dividual.    To  form  an  idea  of  one  tree  that  we  have 


FLASH  OF  IDENTITY  IN   DIVERSITY.  85 

repeatedly  surveyed  at  leisure  round  and  round,  is  about 
the  easiest  exertion  whether  of  attention  or  of  memory. 
To  form  an  idea  of  ten  trees  partly  agreeing  and  partly 
ililTering  among  themselves,  is  manifestly  an  entirely 
altered  task ;  it  is  to  exchange  comparative  simplicity 
for  arduous  complexity:  yet  this  is  what  is  needed  every- 
where in  the  higher  knowledge. 

The  first  emotional  effect  attendant  on  the  process 
of  generalizing  facts,  and  serving  to  lighten  the  intel- 
lectual burden,  is  the  flash  of  identity  in  diversity ;  an 
exhilarating  charm  that  has  been  felt  in  every  age  by 
the  searchers  after  truth.  Many  of  the  grandest  dis- 
coveries in  science  have  consisted,  not  in  bringing  to 
light  any  new  individual  fact,  but  in  seeing  a  likeness 
between  things  formerly  regarded  as  wholly  unlike. 
Such  was  the  great  discovery  of  gravitation.  The  first 
flash  of  the  recognition  of  a  common  power  in  the 
motions  of  the  planets  and  the  flight  of  a  projectile  on 
the  earth  was  unutterably  splendid ;  and  after  a  hundred 
repetitions,  the  emotional  charm  is  unexhausted. 

With  the  emotion  of  exhilarating  surprise  at  the 
discovery  of  likeness  among  things  seemingly  unlike, 
there  is  another  grateful  feeling — the  relief  from  an 
intellectual  burden.  This  appears  at  first  sight  a  con- 
tradiction to  what  has  been  already  said  respecting  the 
greater  laboriousness  of  general  knowledge ;  but  the 
contrariety  is  only  apparent.  To  contract  an  impres- 
j-ion  of  one  single  individual,  after  plenty  of  time  given 
to  attend  to  it,  is  the  easiest  supposable  mental  effort 
But  such  is  the  multiplicity  of  things,  that  we  must 
learn  to  know,  and  remember,  vast  numbers  of  indivi- 
duals ;  and  we  soon  feel  ourselves  overpowered  by  the 


86     PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — EMOTIONS   OF   INTELLECT. 

never-ending  demands  upon  us.  We  must  know  many 
persons,  many  places,  many  houses,  many  natural  ob- 
jects ;  and  our  capability  of  memory  is  in  danger  of 
exhaustion  before  we  have  done.  Now,  however,  comes 
In  the  discovery  of  identities,  by  which  the  work  is 
shortened.  If  a  new  individual  is  exactly  the  same  as 
the  old,  we  are  saved  the  labour  of  a  new  impression  ; 
if  there  is  a  slight  difference,  we  have  to  learn  that 
difference  and  no  more.  In  actual  experience,  the  case 
is,  that  there  are  numerous  agreements  in  the  world,  but 
accompanied  with  differences ;  and  while  we  have  the 
benefit  of  the  agreements,  we  must  take  notice  of  the 
differences.  What  makes  a  general  notion  difficult  is 
that  it  represents  a  large  number  of  objects  that,  while 
agreeing  in  some  respects,  differ  in  others.  This  diffi- 
culty is  the  price  that  we  pay  for  an  enormous  saving  in 
intellectual  labour. 

The  overcoming  of  isolation  in  the  multitude  of 
particulars,  by  flashes  of  identity,  is  the  progress  of  our 
knowledge  in  one  direction  ;  it  is  the  satisfaction  that 
we  express  when  we  say  we  understand  or  can  account 
for  a  thing.  Lightning  was  accounted  for  when  it  was 
identified  with  the  electric  spark.  Besides  the  exhilara- 
ting surprise  at  the  sameness  of  two  facts  in  their  nature 
so  different  and  remote,  men  had  the  further  satisfaction 
of  saying  that  they  learned  what  lightning  is.  Thus  by 
discoveries  of  identity  we  are  enabled  to  explain  the 
world,  to  assign  the  causes  of  things,  to  dissipate  in 
part  the  mysteriousness  that  everywhere  surrounds  us. 

When  a  discovery  of  identification  is  made  among 
particulars  hitherto  looked  upon  as  diverse,  the  interest 
created  is  all-sufficient  to  secure  our  appreciation.     This 


REPUGNANT  ASPECT  OF  GENERALITIES.  8/ 

is  the  alluring  side  of  generalities.  The  repugnant  aspect 
of  them  is  seen  in  the  technical  language  invented  to 
hold  and  express  them — general  or  abstract  designations, 
diagrams,  formulas.  When  it  is  proposed  to  indoc- 
trinate the  mind  in  these  things,  by  themselves,  and 
at  a  stage  when  the  condensing  and  explaining  power 
of  the  identities  is  as  yet  unawakened,  the  whole  ma- 
chinery seems  an  uncouth  jargon.  Hence  the  attempt  to 
afford  relief  to  the  faculties  by  teaching  the  dry  symbols 
of  Arithmetic  and  Geometry  through  the  aid  of  examples 
in  the  concrete,  and,  in  all  the  abstract  sciences,  to  afford 
plenty  of  particulars  to  illustrate  the  generalities.  This 
is  good  so  far ;  but  the  real  interest  that  overcomes  the 
dryness  arises  only  when  we  can  apply  the  generalities 
in  tracing  identities,  in  solving  difficulties,  and  in  short- 
ening labour;  an  effect  that  comes  soonest  to  those 
that  have  already  some  familiarity  with  the  field  where 
the  formulas  are  applicable.  The  liking  for  Algebra  and 
for  Geometry  proceeds  apace  when  one  sees  the  marvels 
of  curious  problems  solved,  unlikely  properties  discovered, 
among  numbers  and  geometrical  figures.  A  certain  ease 
in  holding  in  the  memory  the  abstract  symbols,  after  a 
moderate  application,  is  enough  to  prepare  us  for  a  posi- 
tive relish  in  the  pursuit.  Such  is  the  case  with  gene- 
ralities in  all  departments.  If  we  can  hold  on  till  they 
bear  their  fruits  in  the  explanation  of  things  that  we 
have  already  begun  to  take  notice  of,  the  -pursuit  is 
sustained  by  a  genuine  and  proper  scientific  interest, 
whose  real  groundwork,  however  deeply  hidden,  is  the 
stimulus  of  agreement  among  differing  particulars,  and 
the  lightening  of  the  intellectual  labour  in  comprehend- 
ing the  world.     These  are  the  feelings  that  have  to  be 


88     PLAY   OF   MOTIVES :— EMOTIONS   OF   INTELLECT 

awakened  in  the  minds  of  pupils  when  groaning  under 
the  burden  of  abstractions. 

The  opposition  of  the  Concrete  and  the  Abstract, 
while  but  another  way  of  expressing  the  opposition  of 
the  Particular  and  the  General,  brings  into  greater  pro- 
minence the  highly  composite  or  combined  character  of 
Individuality.  The  individual  thing  is  usually  a  com- 
pound of  many  qualities,  each  of  which  has  to  be  ab- 
stracted in  turn,  in  rising  to  general  notions :  any 
individual  ball  has,  in  addition  to  its  round  form,  the 
properties  called  weight,  hardness,  colour,  and  so  on. 
Now  this  composite  nature,  by  charming  several  senses 
at  once,  gives  a  greater  interest  to  individuals,  and 
urges  us  to  resist  that  process  of  decomposition,  and 
separate  attention,  known  by  the  designations  '  abstrac- 
tion '  and  '  analysis.'  It  is  for  individuals  in  all  their 
multiplicity  of  influence  that  we  contract  likings  or  affec- 
tions ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  charm  of  sense,  and 
especially  the  colour  sense,  is  strong  in  us,  we  are  averse 
to  the  classing  or  generalizing  operation.  A  fire  is  an 
object  of  strong  individual  interest :  to  rise  from  this  to 
the  general  notion  of  the  oxidation  of  carbon  under  all 
varieties  of  mode,  including  cases  with  no  intrinsic  charm, 
is  to  quit  with  reluctance  an  agreeable  contemplation. 
The  emotions  now  described — the  pleasure  of  identity, 
and  the  lightening  of  labour — are  of  avail  to  counter- 
work this  reluctance. 

The  second  of  the  two  motives  that  we  have  coupled 
together — the  easing  of  intellectual  labour — may  be 
viewed  in  another  light.  When  objects  are  regarded  as 
operating  agents  in  the  economy  of  the  world,  as  causes 
or  instruments  of  change,  they  work  by  their  qualities 


PROMPTING   TO  ANALYSIS.  89 

or  powers  in  separation,  and  not  by  their  entire  indivi- 
duality or  concreteness.  An  iron  bar,  or  a  poker,  is  an 
individual  concrete  thing ;  but  when  we  come  to  use  it, 
we  put  in  action  its  various  qualities  separately.  We 
may  employ  it  as  a  weight ;  in  which  case  its  other  pro- 
perties are  of  no  account.  We  may  use  it  as  a  lever,  and 
then  we  bring  into  play  simply  its  length  and  its  tenacity. 
We  can  put  it  in  motion  as  a  moving  power,  when  its 
inertia  alone  is  taken  into  account,  with  perhaps  its  form. 
In  all  these  instances,  the  magnetical  and  the  chemical 
and  the  medicinal  properties  of  iron  are  unthought  of. 
Now  this  consideration  discloses  an  important  aid  to  the 
abstracting  process — the  analytic  separation  of  properties, 
as  opposed  to  the  mind's  fondness  for  clinging  to  con- 
crete individuality.  When  we  are  working  out  practical 
ends,  we  must  follow  nature's  method  of  working ;  and, 
as  that  is  by  isolating  the  separate  qualities,  we  must 
perform  the  act  of  mental  isolation,  which  is  to  abstract, 
or  consider  one  power  to  the  neglect  of  the  rest.  When 
we  want  to  put  forth  heavy  pressure,  we  think  of  various 
bodies  solely  as  they  can  exert  weight,  however  many 
other  ways  they  may  invite  or  charm  our  sense.  This 
is  to  generalize  or  form  a  general  notion  of  weight ; 
and  the  motive  to  conceive  it,  is  practical  need  or  ne- 
cessity. 

This  motive  of  practical  need  at  once  brings  us  to 
the  very  core  of  Causation,  viewed  as  a  merely  specula- 
tive notion.  The  cause  of  anything  is  the  agent  that 
would  bring  that  thing  into  being,  suppose  we  were  in 
want  of  it.  The  cause  of  warmth  in  a  room  is  combus- 
tion properly  arranged.  We  use  this  fact  for  practical 
purposes,  and  we  may  also  use  it  for  satisfying  mere 


90     PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — EMOTIONS   OF   INTELLECT. 

curiosity.  We  enter  a  warm  room ;  we  may  desire  to 
know  how  it  has  been  made  warm,  and  we  are  satisfied 
by  being  told  that  there  has  been,  or  is  now  somewhere, 
a  fire  in  communication  with  it. 

Thus  it  is  that  in  proportion  as  we  come  to  operate 
upon  the  world  practically  ourselves,  and  from  that  pro- 
ceed to  contemplate  causation  at  large,  we  are  driven 
upon  the  abstracting  and  analyzing  process,  so'  repug- 
nant to  one  large  portion  of  our  feelings.  Science  finds 
an  opening  in  our  minds  at  this  point,  when  otherwise 
we  might  need  the  proverbial  surgical  operation. 

These  observations  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  working 
of  the  emotion  named  Curiosity,  which  is  justly  held  to 
be  a  great  power  in  teaching.  Curiosity  expresses  the 
emotions  of  knowledge  viewed  as  desire ;  and,  more 
especially,  the  desire  to  surmount  an  intellectual  diffi- 
culty once  felt  Genuine  curiosity  belongs  to  the  stage 
of  advanced  and  correct  views  of  the  world. 

Much  of  the  curiosity  of  children,  and  of  others 
besides  children,  is  a  spurious  article.  Frequently  it  is  a 
mere  display  of  egotism,  the  delight  in  giving  trouble, 
in  being  pandered  to  and  served.  Questions  are  put, 
not  from  the  desire  of  rational  information,  but  from  the 
love  of  excitement.  Occasionally,  the  inquisitiveness  of 
a  child  provides  an  opportunity  for  imparting  a  piece  of 
real  information  ;  but  far  oftener  not.  By  ingeniously 
circumventing  a  scientific  fact,  one  not  too  high  for  a 
child's  comprehension,  we  may  awaken  curiosity  and 
succeed  in  impressing  the  fact.  Try  a  child  to  hft  a 
heavy  weight  first  by  tTie  direct  pull,  and  then  by  a 
lever  or  a  set  of  pulleys,  and  probably  you  will  excite 


CURIOSITY   IN   CHILDREN.  9I 

some  surprise  and  wonder,  with  a  desire  to  know  some- 
thing further  about  the  instrumentahty.  But  one  fatal 
defect  of  the  childish  mind  is  the  ascendancy  of  the 
personal  or  anthropomorphic  conception  of  cause.  This 
no  doubt  is  favourable  to  the  theological  explanation  of 
tlie  world,  but  wholly  unsuited  to  physical  science.  A 
child,  if  it  had  any  curiosity  at  all,  would  like  to  know 
what  makes  the  grass  grow,  the  rain  fall,  the  wind  howl, 
and  generally  all  things  that  are  occasional  and  excep- 
tional ;  an  indifference  being  contracted  towards  what 
is  familiar,  constant,  and  regular.  When  anything  goes 
wrong,  the  child  has  the  wish  to  set  it  right,  and  is 
anxious  to  know  what  will  answer  the  purpose  :  this  is 
the  inlet  of  practice,  and,  by  this,  correct  knowledge 
may  find  its  way  to  the  mind,  provided  the  power  of 
comprehension  is  sufficiently  matured.  Still,  the  radi- 
cal obstacle  remains — -the  impossibility  of  approaching 
science  at  random,  or  taking  it  in  any  order ;  we  must 
begin  at  the  proper  beginning,  and  we  may  not  always 
contrive  to  tickle  the  curiosity  at  the  exact  stage  of  the 
pupil's  understanding.  Every  teacher  knows,  or  should 
know,  the  little  arts  of  giving  a  touch  of  wonder  and 
mystery  to  a  fact  before  giving  the  explanation ;  all 
which  is  found  to  tell  in  the  regular  march  of  exposi- 
tion, but  would  be  lost  labour  in  any  other  course. 

The  very  young,  those  that  we  are  working  upon  by 
gentle  allurement,  are  not  fully  competent  to  learn  the 
'  how'  or  the  'wherefore'  of  any  important  natural  fact; 
they. cannot  even  be  made  to  desire  the  thing  in  the 
proper  way.  They  are  open  chiefly  to  the  charm  of 
sense,  novelty,  and  variety,  which,  together  with  acci- 
dental charm  or  liking,  impresses  the  pictorial  or  concrete 


92      PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :— EMOTIONS   OF   ACTIVITY. 

aspects  of  the  world,  whether  quiescent  or  changing,  the 
last  being  the  most  powerful.  They  farther  are  capable 
of  understanding  the  more  palpable  conditions  of  many- 
changes,  without  penetrating  to  ultimate  causes.  They 
learn  that  to  light  a  fire  there  must  be  fuel  and  a  light 
applied ;  that  the  growth  of  vegetables  needs  planting 
or  sowing,  together  with  rain  and  sunshine  through  a 
summer  season.  The  empirical  knowledge  of  the  world 
that  preceded  science  is  still  the  knowledge  that  the 
child  passes  through  in  the  way  to  science ;  and  all  this 
may  be  guided  so  as  to  prepare  for  the  future  scientific 
revelations.  In  other  respects,  the  so-called  curiosity  of 
children  is  chiefly  valuable  as  yielding  ludicrous  situa- 
tions for  our  comic  literature. 


The  Emotions  of  Activity. 

Nothing  is  more  frequently  prescribed  in  education 
than  to  foster  the  pupils'  own  activity,  to  put  them  in 
the  way  of  discovering  facts  and  principles  for  them- 
selves.    This  position  needs  to  be  carefully  surveyed. 

There  is,  in  the  human  system,  a  certain  spontaneity 
of  action,  the  result  of  central  energy,  independent  of 
any  feelings  that  may  accompany  the  exercise.  It  is 
great  in  children ;  and  it  marks  special  individuals,  who 
are  said  to  possess  the  active  temperament.  It  dis- 
tinguishes races  and  nationalities  of  human  beings,  and 
is  illustrated  in  the  differences  among  the  animal  tribes ; 
it  also  varies  with  general  bodily  vigour.  This  activity 
would  burst  out  and  discharge  itself  in  some  form  of 
exertion,  whether  useful  or  useless,  even  if  the  result 
were  perfectly  indifferent  as  regards  pleasure  or  pain 


SPONTANEOUS  ACTIVITY.  93 

We  usually  endeavour  to  turn  it  to  account  by  giving 
it  a  profitable  direction,  instead  of  letting  it  run  to 
waste  or  something  worse.  It  expends  itself  in  a 
longer  or  a  shorter  time,  but,  while  any  portion  of  it 
remains,  exertion  is  not  burdensome. 

Although  the  spontaneous  flow  of  activity  is  best 
displayed  and  is  most  intelligible  in  the  department  of 
muscular  exercise,  it  applies  also  to  the  senses  and  the 
nerves,  and  comprises  mental  action  as  well  as  bodily. 
The  intellectual  strain  of  attention,  of  volition,  of 
memory,  and  of  thought,  proceeds  to  a  certain  length 
by  mere  fulness  of  power,  after  rest  and  renovation ; 
and  may  be  counted  on  to  this  extent  as  involving 
nothing  essentially  toilsome.  Here,  too,  a  good  direc- 
tion is  all  that  is  wanted  to  make  a  profitable  result. 

The  activity  thus  assumed  as  independent  of  feeling 
is  nevertheless  accompanied  with  feeling,  and  that  feel- 
ing is  essentially  pleasurable  :  the  pleasure  being  greatest 
at  first.  The  presence  of  pleasure  is  the  standing 
motive  to  action  ;  and  all  the  natural  activity  of  the 
system  —  whether  muscular  or  nervous  —  brings  an 
effluence  of  pleasure,  until  a  certain  point  of  depletion 
is  arrived  at. 

If,  further,  our  activity  is  employed  productively,  or 
in  yielding  any  gratification  beyond  the  mere  exercise, 
this  is  so  much  added  to  the  pleasures  of  action.  When, 
besides  the  delight  of  intellectual  exercise,  we  obtain 
for  ourselves  the  gratification  of  fresh  knowledge,  we 
seem  to  attain  the  full  pleasure  due  to  the  employment 
of  the  intellect. 

Much  more,  however,  is  meant  by  the  gratification 
of  the   self- activity   of  the   learner.      That   expression 


94      PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  : — EMOTIONS   OF   ACTIVITY. 

points  to  the  acquiring  of  knowledge,  as  little  as  pos* 
sible  by  direct  communication,  and  as  much  as  possible 
by  the  mind's  own  exertion  in  working  it  out  from  the 
raw  materials.  We  are  to  place  the  pupil  as  nearly  as 
may  be  in  the  track  of  the  first  discoverer,  and  thus 
impart  the  stimulus  of  invention,  with  the  accompanying 
outburst  of  self-gratulation  and  triumph.  This  bold 
fiction  is  sometimes  put  forward  as  one  of  the  regular 
arts  of  the  teacher;  but  I  should  prefer  to  consider  it 
as  an  extraordinary  device,  admissible  only  on  special 
^occasions. 

It  is  an  obvious  defect  in  teaching  to  keep  continu- 
ally lecturing  pupils,  without  asking  them  in  turn  to 
reproduce  and  apply  what  is  said.  This  is  no  doubt 
a  sin  against  the  pupil's  self- activity,  but  rather  in  the 
manner  than  in  the  fact.  Listening  and  imbibing  con- 
stitute a  mode  of  activity  ;  only  it  may  be  overdone  in 
being  out  of  proportion  to  the  other  exercises  requisite 
for  fixing  our  knowledge.  When  these  other  activities 
are  fairly  plied,  the  pupil  may  have  a  certain  complacent 
•satisfaction  in  his  or  her  own  efficiency  as  a  learner, 
and  this  is  a  fair  and  legitimate  reward  to  an  apt  pupil. 
It  does  not  assume  any  independent  self-sufficiency ;  it 
merely  supposes  an  adequate  comprehension  and  a 
faithful  reproduction  of  the  knowledge  communicated. 
The  praise  or  approbation  of  the  master,  and  of  others 
interested,  is  a  superadded  reward. 

Notwithstanding,  there  still  remains,  if  we  could 
command  it,  a  tenfold  power  in  the  feeling  of  origina- 
tion, invention,  or  creation ;  but  as  this  can  hardly  ever 
■be  actual,  the  suggestion  is  to  give  it  in  fiction  or  imagi- 
nation.     Now,  it  is  one  of  the  delicate  arts  of  an  accom 


PRIDE  OF  ORIGINATION.  95 

plished  instructor,  to  lay  before  the  pupils  a  set  of  facts 
pointing  to  a  conclusion,  and  to  leave  them  to  draw  the 
concl  :sion  for  themselves.  Exactly  to  hit  the  mean 
between  a  leap  too  small  to  have  any  merit,  and  one  too 
wide  for  the  ordinary  pupil,  is  a  fine  adjustment  and  a 
great  success.  All  this,  however,  belongs  to  the  occa- 
sional luxuries,  the  bon-bons  of  teaching,  and  cannot  be 
included  under  the  daily  routine. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  although  the  pride  of 
origination  is  a  motive  of  extraordinary  power,  and  in 
some  minds  surpasses  every  other  motive,  and  has  a 
great  charm  even  in  a  fictitious  example,  yet  it  is  not  in 
all  minds  the  only  extraneous  motive  that  may  aid  the 
teacher.  There  is  a  counter  motive  of  sympathy,  affec- 
tion, and  admiration  for  superior  wisdom,  which  operates 
in  the  other  direction  ;  giving  a  zest  in  receiving  and 
imbibing  to  the  letter  what  is  imparted,  and  jealously 
restraining  any  independent  exercise  of  judgment  such 
as  would  share  the  credit  with  the  instructor.  This 
tendency  is  no  doubt  liable  to  run  into  slavishness  and 
to  favour  the  perpetuation  of  error  and  the  stagnation 
of  the  human  mind  ;  but  a  certain  measure  of  it  is  only 
becoming  the  attitude  of  a  learner.  It  accompanies  a 
proper  sense  of  what  is  the  fact,  namely,  that  the 
learner  is  a  learner  and  not  a  teacher  or  a  discoverer, 
and  has  to  receive  a  great  deal  with  mere  passive 
acquiescence,  before  venturing  to  suggest  any  improve- 
ments. Unreasoning  blind  faith  is  indispensable  in 
beginning  any  art  or  science  ;  the  pupil  has  to  lay  up  a 
stock  of  notions  before  having  any  materials  for  dis- 
covery or  origination.  There  is  a  right  moment  for 
relaxing  this  attitude,  and  for  assuming  the  exercise  of 


96  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  :— FINE  ART. 

independence ;  but  it  has  scarcely  arrived  while  the 
schoolmaster  is  still  at  work.  Even  in  the  higher  walks 
of  university  teaching,  independence  is  premature,  un- 
less in  some  exceptional  minds,  and  the  attempt  of 
masters  to  proceed  upon  it,  and  to  invite  the  free  criti- 
cism of  pupils,  does  not  appear  ever  to  have  been  very 
fruitful.^ 

The  Emotions  of  Fine  Art. 

This  is  necessarily  a  wide  subject,  but  for  our  purpose 
a  few  select  points  will  be  enough.  The  proper  and 
principal  end  of  Art  is  enjoyment.  Now,  whatever  is 
able  to  contribute  on  the  great  scale  to  our  enjoyment, 
is  a  power  over  all  that  we  do.  The  bearings  of  this  on 
education  are  to  be  seen. 

The  Art  Emotions  are  seldom  looked  upon  as  a 
mere  source  of  enjoyment.  They  are  apt  to  be  regarded 
in  preference  as  a  moral  power,  and  an  aid  to  education 
at  every  point.     Nevertheless,  we  should  commence  with 

'  It  would  lead  us  too  far,  although  it  might  not  be  uninstructive,  to 
reflect  upon  the  evil  side  of  this  fondness  for  giving  a  new  and  self-suggested 
cast  to  all  received  knowledge.  It  introduces  change  for  the  mere  sake  of 
change  and  never  lets  well  alone.  It  multiplies  variations  of  form  and 
phraseology  for  expressing  the  same  facts,  and  so  renders  all  subjects  more 
perplexed  than  they  need  be  ;  not  to  speak  of  controverting  what  is 
established,  because  it  is  established,  and  allowing  nothing  ever  to  settle. 
Owing  to  a  dread  of  the  feverish  love  of  change,  certain  works  that  have 
accidentally  received  an  ascendancy,  such  as  the  Elements  of  Euclid,  are 
retained  notwithstanding  their  imperfections.  The  acquiescent  multitude 
of  minds  regard  this  as  a  less  evil  than  letting  loose  the  men  of  action  and 
revolution  to  vie  \s'ilh  each  other  in  distracting  alterations,  while  there  is  no 
judicial  power  to  hold  the  balance._  It  is  a  received  maxim  in  the  tactics  of 
legislation  that  no  scheme,  however  well  matured,  can  pass  a  popular  body 
without  amendment ;  it  is  net  in  collective  human  nature  '.o  accept  any- 
thing simpliciter,  without  having  a  finger  in  the  pie. 


MUSIC.  97 

recognizing  in  them  a  means  of  pleasure  as  such,  a  pure 
hedonic  factor;  in  which  capacity  they  are  a  final  end. 
Their  function  in  intellectual  education  is  the  function 
of  all  pleasure  when  not  too  great,  namely,  to  cheer, 
refresh,  and  encourage  us  in  our  work. 

There  are  certain  general  effects  of  Art  that  come 
In  well  at  the  very  beginning.  Such  are  symmetry, 
order,  rhythm,  and  simple  design  and  proportion  ;  which 
are  the  adjuncts  of  the  school,  just  as  they  should  be 
the  adjuncts  of  home  life.  Proportion,  simple  design, 
a  certain  amount  of  colour,  are  the  suitable  elements  of 
the  school  interior ;  to  which  are  added  tidiness,  neat- 
ness, and  arrangement,  among  the  pupils  themselves; 
only  this  must  not  be  worrying  and  oppressive. 

In  the  exercises  suited  to  infants,  Time  and  Rhythm 
are  largely  employed. 

Of  all  the  fine  arts,  the  most  available,  universal  and 
influential  is  Music.  This  is  perhaps  the  most  unexcep- 
tionable, as  well  as  the  cheapest,  of  human  pleasures.  It 
has  been  seized  upon  with  avidity  by  the  human  race  in 
all  times  ;  so  much  so,  that  we  wonder  how  life  could 
ever  have  been  passed  without  it.  In  the  earlier  stages, 
it  was  united  with  Poetry,  and  the  poetical  element  was 
of  equal,  if  not  of  greater,  power  than  the  musical 
accompaniment.  As  the  ethical  instructors  of  mankind 
have  always  disavowed  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  as  such, 
and  allowed  it  only  as  subsidiary  to  morality  and  social 
duty,  the  question  with  legislators  has  been  what  form 
of  music  is  best  calculated  to  educe  the  moral  virtues 
and  the  nobler  characteristics  of  the  mind.  It  was  this 
view  that  entered  into  the  speculative  social  constructions 
of  Plato  and  of  Aristotle.    Now,  undoubtedly  the  various 


98  PLAY  OF  MOTIVES: — FINE  ART. 

modes  of  music  operate  very  differently  on  the  mind  ; 
everyone  knows  the  extremes  of  martial  and  ecclesiastical 
music  ;  and  fancy  can  insert  many  intermediate  grades.' 

For  the  moment  a  musical  strain  exerts  immense 
p  Dwer  over  the  mind,  to  animate,  to  encourage,  to  soothe, 
and  to  console.  But  the  facts  do  not  bear  us  out  in  at- 
tributing to  it  any  permanent  moral  influence ;  nothing 
is  more  fugitive  than  the  excitement  of  a  musical  per- 
formance. Excepting  its  value  as  a  substantive  con- 
tribution to  the  enjoyment  of  life,  I  am  not  able  to  affirm 
that  it  has  any  influence  on  education,  whether  moral  or 
intellectual.  Certainly,  if  it  has  any  effect  in  the  moral 
sphere,  it  has  none  that  I  can  trace  in  the  sphere  of  in- 
tellect. As  a  recreative  variety  in  the  midst  of  toil,  it 
deserves  every  encomium.  In  those  exercises  that  are 
half  recreative,  half  educational,  as  drill  and  gymnastics, 
the  accompaniment  of  a  band  is  most  stimulating.  In 
the  Kindergarten  it  is  well  brought  in,  as  the  wind- 
up  to  the  morning's  work.  But  music  during  ordinary 
lessons,  or  during  any  sort  of  intellectual  work,  is  mere 
distraction,  as  everyone  knows  from  the  experience  of 
street  bands  and  organs. 

Excess  in  the  pleasures  of  music,  like  every  other 
excess,  is  unfavourable  to  mental  culture.  But  some  of 
the  most  intellectual  men  that  ever  lived  have  been  de- 

•  Plato,  in  the  Republic,  wishing  to  train  a  vigorous  and  hardy  race, 
interdicted  not  simply  the  unfavourable  musical  strains,  but  the  instruments 
most  adapted  to  these.  He  permits  only  the  lyre  and  the  harp^  with  the 
panspipe  for  shepherds  attending  their  flocks  ;  forbidding  both  the  flute 
nnd  all  complicited  stringed  instruments.  Disallowing  the  lugubrious, 
passionate,  soft,  and  convivial_  modes  of  music,  he  tolerates  none  but  the 
Dorian  and  the  Phrygian,  suitable  to  a  sober,  resolute,  courageous  frame  o{ 
mind ;  to  which  also  the  rhythm  and  movement  of  the  body  is  to  be 
adapted.     (Grote's  Plato,  III.  196.) 


POETRY.  99 

votees  of  music.  In  the  case  of  Luther,  it  seems  to 
Iiave  been  incorporated  with  his  whole  being  ;  Milton 
invoked  it  as  an  aid  in  poetic  inspiration.  These  were 
men  whose  genius  largely  involved  their  emotions.  But 
the  musical  enthusiasm  of  Jeremy  Bentham  could  have 
no  bearing  on  his  work,  further  than  as  so  much  enjoy- 
ment. 

Poetry  is  music  and  a  great  deal  more.  Its  bearings 
are  more  numerous  and  complicated.  In  the  ruder 
stages  of  music,  when  it  accompanied  poetry,  the  main 
effects  lay  in  the  poetry.  The  poetic  form — the  rhythm 
and  the  metre — impresses  the  ear,  and  is  an  aid  to 
memory  ;  whence  it  has  been  transferred  from  the  proper 
themes  of  poetiy  to  very  prosaic  subjects  by  way  of  a 
mnemonic  device.  The  subject-matter  of  poetry  com- 
prises the  stirring  narrative,  which  is  an  enormous  power 
in  human  life,  and  the  earliest  intellectual  stimulus  in 
education. 

The  Ethical  Emotions. 

The  feelings  called  Ethical,  or  Moral,  from  their  very 
meaning,  are  the  support  of  all  good  and  right  conduct. 
The  other  emotions  may  be  made  to  point  to  this  end, 
but  they  may  also  work  in  the  opposite  direction. 

When  the  educator  describes  these  in  more  precise 
and  equivalent  phraseology,  he  generally  singles  out  re- 
gard to  the  pleasure  and  displeasure  of  parents  and 
superiors,  together  with  habits  or  dispositions  towards 
obedience  ;  all  which  is  the  result  of  culture  and  growth. 

Any  primitive  feelings  conspiring  towards  good  con- 
duct must  be  of  the  nature  of  the  sympathies  or  social 
yearnings ;  which  are  called   into  exercise   in    definite 


lOO       PLAY   OF  MOTIVES: — ETHICAL  EMOTIONS. 

ways,  well  known  to  all  students  of  human  nature.  By 
far  the  most  powerful  stimulus  to  acts  of  goodness  to- 
wards others,  is  good  conduct  on  the  part  of  others  : 
whoever  can  resist  this  is  a  fit  subject  for  the  govern- 
ment of  fear,  and  nothing  else.  The  law  says,  '  Do  unto 
others  as  ye  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you.'  The 
lower  ground  of  practice  is,  '  Do  unto  others  as  they 
do  unto  you.'  This  is  as  far  as  the  very  young  can 
reach  in  moral  virtue. 

It  is  too  much  to  expect  in  early  years  generous  and 
disinterested  impulses,  unreciprocated.  The  young  have 
little  to  call  their  own  ;  they  have  no  means.  Their 
fortune  is  their  free,  unrestrained  vivacity,  their  elation, 
and  their  hopes.  If  they  freely  give  up  any  part  of  this, 
it  is  in  consideration  of  equivalent  benefits.  They  are 
susceptible  of  being  worked  up  to  moments  of  self- 
renunciation  ;  in  which  they  may  commit  their  future 
irrevocably,  without  knowing  what  they  are  about.  But 
they  cannot  be  counted  on  for  daily,  persistent  self- 
restraint,  willingly  encountered,  unless  there  be  some 
seen  reward,  present  or  in  the  distance.  It  takes  a  good 
deal  to  bring  anyone  even  up  to  the  point  of  rendering 
quid  pro  quo  in  all  things. 

The  Feelings  as  Appealed  to  in  Discipline. 

The  survey  that  has  now  been  made  of  the  sensibili- 
ties of  the  human  mind,  available  as  motives,  prepares 
for  the  consideration  of  Discipline  in  teaching.  The 
instructor  finds  that,  in  school  moments,  and  for  school 
purposes,  he  has  to  restrain  all  the  unruly  impulses,  and 
to  overbear  the  sluggishness  of  the  youthful  nature.  To 
succeed  in  this  requirement  many  arts  are  employed, 


ERRONEOUS   MODES   OF   DISCIPLINE.  lOI 

corresponding  to  the  wide  compass  of  sensations  and 
emotions  that  agitate  the  human  breast. 

The  question  how  to  maintain  discipline  among 
masses  of  human  beings  is  of  very  wide  appHcation,  and 
is  therefore  the  subject  of  a  great  variety  of  experiments 
In  the  wide  field  of  moral  control,  it  includes  a  principal 
function  of  government,  namely,  the  repression  of  crime  ; 
a  department  that  has  lately  received  much  attention. 
To  collect  all  the  lights  furnished  in  each  of  the  spheres 
where  moral  control  has  to  be  exercised,  is  to  contribute 
to  the  illumination  of  each.  There  has,  undoubtedly,  in 
former  times,  been  very  great  mismanagement  in  almost 
every  one  of  the  regions  of  repressive  authority — in  the 
state,  in  the  family,  and  in  the  school ;  in  all  which  an 
excess  of  human  misery  has  been  habitually  engendered 
by  badness  in  the  manner  of  exercising  control.  It  is, 
perhaps,  in  the  family  that  the  mischief  is  most  widely 
spread  and  most  baneful. 

By  degrees  we  have  become  aware  of  various  errors 
that  ran  through  the  former  methods  of  discipline,  in  the 
several  institutions  of  the  state,  as  well  as  in  the  family. 
We  have  discovered  the  evil  of  working  by  fear  alone, 
and  still  more  by  fear  of  coarse,  painful,  and  degrading 
inflictions.  We  have  discovered  that  occasions  of  offence 
can  be  avoided  by  a  variety  of  salutary  arrangements, 
such  as  to  check  the  very  disposition  to  unruly  conduct. 
We  consider  that  a  great  discovery  has  been  made  in 
regard  to  punishments,  by  the  enunciation  of  the  maxim 
that  certainty  is  more  important  than  severity  ;  to  which 
should  be  added,  proportion  to  the  offence.  We  also 
consider  that  by  a  suitable  training,  or  education,  the 
dispositions   that   lead   to  disorder  and   crime   can  be 


102  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES: — DISCIPLINE. 

checked  in  the  bud ;  and  that,  until  there  has  been  room 
for  such  training  to  operate,  the  mind  should  not  be 
exposed  to  temptation.  We  have  become  accustomed 
to  lay  more  stress  than  was  formerly  done  upon  culti- 
vating the  amicable  relations  of  human  beings ;  the 
tendency  of  which  is  to  abridge  the  sphere  of  injurious 
conduct  on  the  part  of  individuals. 

The  consideration  of  discipline  in  Education  supposes 
the  relation  of  a  teacher  to  a  class  ;  one  man  or  woman 
exercising  over  a  body  of  pupils  the  authority  requisite 
for  the  work  in  hand.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not  lost  time 
to  advert,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  maxims  pertaining 
to  authority  in  general. 

Authority,  government,  power  over  others  is  not  an 
end  in  itself;  it  is  only  a  means.  Further,  its  operation 
is  an  evil  ;  it  seriously  abates  human  happiness.  The 
restraint  upon  free  agency,  the  infliction  of  pain  on  in- 
dividuals, the  setting  up  a  reign  of  terror — all  this  is 
justified  solely  by  the  prevention  of  evils  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  misery  that  it  inflicts.  This  might  seem 
self-evident  ;  but  is  not  so.  The  deep-seated  male- 
volence and  lust  of  domination  in  the  human  mind 
make  the  necessity  of  government  a  pretext  for  excesses 
in  severity  and  repression ;  to  which  must  be  added 
the  opportunity  of  preying  upon  the  substance  of  the 
governed. 

The  philosophy  of  society  now  endeavours  to  formu- 
late the  limits  to  authority,  and  to  the  employment  of 
repressive  severities.  Not  only  is  authority  restricted 
to  the  mildest  penalties  that  will  answer  its  purpose  ; 
but  its  very  existence  4ias  to  be  justified  in  each  case 
that  arises. 


THE  FAMILY  AND  THE   SCHOOL.  I03 

Authority  is  not  necessary  to  every  teaching  relation. 
A  willing  pupil  coming  up  to  a  master  to  be  taught,  is 
not  entering  into  a  relationship  of  authority  ;  it  is  a  mere 
voluntary  compact,  terminable  at  the  pleasure  of  eacM. 
There  is  no  more  authority  over  the  assemblies  of  grown 
men  to  hear  lectures,  than  over  the  worshippers  at  church, 
or  the  frequenters  of  the  play.  There  is  nothing  but  the 
observance  of  mutual  "toleration  and  forbearance  so  far 
as  is  requisite  to  the  common  good  ;  if  this  were  grossly 
violated,  there  would  be  an  exercise  of  power  either  by 
the  collective  mass  themselves,  or  by  summoning  the 
constable  to  their  aid.  No  authority  is  lodged  in  the 
lecturer,  the  preacher,  or  the  performer,  to  repress  dis- 
turbances. 

Authority  first  appears  in  the  family,  and  is  thence 
transferred  with  modifications  to  the  school.  It  is 
between  these  two  institutions  that  the  comparison  is 
most  suggestive.  The  parent's  authority  is  associated 
with  sustenance,  and  has  an  almost  unlimited  range.  It 
is  tempered  by  affection,  but  this  depends  upon  mutu- 
ality of  pleasure -giving,  and  supposes  a  limited  number. 
The  teacher's  authority  has  nothing  to  do  with  sus- 
tenance, it  is  a  duty  undertaken  for  payment ;  it  is 
subsidiary  to  the  single  object  of  teaching  a  definite 
amount  of  knowledge.  It  wants  the  requisites  of  affec- 
tion ;  the  numbers  are  too  great,  and  the  mutual  con- 
cern too  restricted :  yet  affection  is  not  wholly  ex- 
cluded ;  in  certain  well-marked  cases,  it  may  play  a 
part. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  family  and  the  school  have 
some  important  agreements.  They  both  deal  with 
immature  minds,  for  whom  certain  kinds  of  motives  are 
9 


I04  "PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  : — DISCIPLINE. 

unsuitable.  Neither  can  employ  motives  that  are  ap- 
plicable only  to  grown  men  and  women ;  they  cannot 
appeal  to  consequences  in  the  distant  and  unknown 
future.  Children  do  not  realize  a  remote  effect,  and 
they  fail  even  to  conceive  many  things  that  will  one  day 
have  great  power  over  their  conduct.  To  talk  to  them 
about  riches,  honours,  and  a  good  conscience  is  in  vain. 
A  half-holiday  is  more  to  them  than  the  prospect  of 
becoming  head  of  a  business. 

The  position  of  immaturity  is  attended  with  another 
peculiarity,  namely,  that  the  reasons  of  a  rule  cannot 
always  be  made  apparent.  Sometimes  they  can,  if  not 
to  the  younger,  at  least  to  the  older  children.  This  is 
a  highly  prized  aid  to  obedience  in  every  department  of 
government. 

There  are  many  important  points  of  agreement  in 
the  exercise  of  authority  in  every  sphere — the  family, 
the  school,  the  relation  of  master  and  servant,  of  ruler 
and  subject,  whether  in  the  state  at  large  or  in  sub- 
ordinate societies.     For  example  : — 

(i)  Restraints  should  be  as  few  as  the  situation 
admits  of. 

(2)  Duties  and  Offences  should  be  definitely  ex- 
pressed, so  as  to  be  clearly  understood.  This  may  not 
always  be  possible  to  the  full  extent ;  but  should  be 
always  aimed  at. 

(3)  Offences  should  be  graduated  according  to  their 
degree  of  heinousness.  This  too  needs  clearness  of  dis- 
crimination and  definite  language. 

(4)  The  application  of  Punishment  is  regulated 
according  to  certain  principles,  first  clearly  pointed  out 
by  Bentham. 


EXERCISE  OF   AUTHORITY.  I05 

(5)  Voluntary  dispositions  are  to  be  trusted  as  far 
as  they  can  go. 

(6)  By  organization  and  arrangement,  the  occasions 
of  disorder  are  avoided.  Quarrels  are  obviated  by  not 
permitting  crowds,  jostling,  and  collisions.  Dishonesty 
is  checked  by  want  of  opportunity  ;  remissness,  by  the 
watchful  eye  and  by  definite  tests  of  performance. 

(7)  The  awe  and  influence  of  authority  is  main- 
tained by  a  certain  formality  and  state.  Forms  and 
ritual  are  adapted  to  all  the  operations  of  law  :  persons 
in  authority  are  clothed  with  dignity  and  inviolability. 
The  greater  the  necessity  of  enforcing  obedience,  the 
more  stern  and  imposing  is  the  ritual  of  authority. 
The  Romans,  the  greatest  law-giving  people,  were  the 
most  stately  in  their  official  rites.  A  slight  tinge  of 
formality  should  accompany  even  the  lowest  forms  of 
authority. 

(8)  It  is  understood  that  authority,  with  all  its  appur- 
tenances, exists  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed,  and  not 
as  a  perquisite  of  the  governor. 

(9)  The  operation  of  mere  vindictiveness  should  be 
curtailed  to  the  uttermost. 

(10)  So  far  as  circumstances  allow,  everyone  in  au- 
thority should  assume  a  benign  character,  seeking  the 
benefit  of  those  under  him,  using  instruction  and  moral 
suasion  so  as  to  stave  off  the  necessity  of  force.  The 
effect  of  this  attitude  is  at  its  utmost  when  its  limits 
are  clearly  discerned  and  never  passed. 

(11)  The  reasons  for  repression  and  discipline 
should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  made  intelligible  to  those 
concerned  ;  and  should  be  referable  solely  to  the  general 
good.     This  involves,  as  a  part  of  national  education,  a 


io6  PLAY  or  motives: — discipline. 

knowledge  of  the  structure  of  society,  as  being  a  regu- 
lated  reciprocity  among  all  its  members,  for  the  good  oi 
each  and  of  all.* 

'  Whoever  occupies  a  position  of  authority  ought  to  be  famiJiar  with  ihr 
j^rtneral  principles  and  conditions  of  Punishment,  as  they  may  be  found  set 
forth  in  tie  Penal  Code  of  Bentham.  The  broad,  exhaustive  view  there 
given  will  co-operate  beneficially  with  each  one's  actual  experience.  I 
make  no  apology  for  presenting  a  short  summary  of  his  principles. 

After  precisely  defining  the  proper  ends  of  Punishment,  Bentham  marks 
the  cases  unmeet  for  Punishment.  First,  where  it  is  groundless  :  that  is, 
where  there  never  has  been  any  real  mischief  (the  other  party  consenting  to 
what  has  been  done),  or  where  the  mischief  is  overweighed  by  a  benefit  of 
greater  value.  Second,  where  it  is  i7iefficacious  :  including  cases  where 
the  penal  provision  has  not  come  before  the  offender's  notice,  where  he  is 
unaware  of  the  consequences  of  his  act,  or  where  he  is  not  a  free  agent. 
Third,  cases  where  it  is  unprofitable  ;  that  is,  when  the  evil  of  the  punish- 
ment exceeds  the  evil  of  the  offence.  (The  evils  of  Punishment,  which 
have  to  be  summed  up  and  set  against  the  good,  are  (i)  coercion  or  re- 
straint, (2)  the  uneasiness  of  apprehension,  (3)  the  actual  suffering,  (4)  the 
suffering  caused  to  all  those  that  are  in  sympathy  with  the  person  punished.) 
Fourth,  cases  where  Punishment  is  needless :  as  when  the  end  can  be 
attained  in  some  cheaper  way,  as  by  instruction  and  persuasion.  In  this 
class  Bentham  specially  includes  the  offences  that  consist  in  disseminat- 
ing pernicious  principles  in  politics,  morality,  or  religion.  These  should 
be  met  by  instruction  and  argument,  and  not  by  the  penalties  of  the  law. 

Under  what  he  calls  the  expense  or  frugality  of  Punishment,  Bentham 
nrges  the  necessity  of  presenting  to  the  mind  an  adequate  notion  of  what  a 
punishment  really  is.  Hence  the  advantage  of  punishments  that  are  easily 
learnt,  and  remembered,  and  that  appear  greater,  and  not  less,  than  they 
really  are.  . 

Next,  as  to  the  main  point,  the  pleasure  of  Punishment.  First,  it  should 
be  such  as  clearly  to  outweigh  the  profit  of  the  offence  :  including  not 
simply  the  immediate  profit,  but  every  advantage,  real  or  apparent,  that 
has  weighed  as  an  inducement  to  commit  it.  Second,  the  greater  the 
mischief  of  the  offence,  the  greater  is  the  expense  that  it  is  worth  while  to 
be  at,  in  the  way  of  punishment.  Third,  when  two  offences  come  inio 
competition,  the  punishment  for  the  greater  should  be  such  as  to  make  the 
less  preferred  ;  thus  robbery  with  violence  to  the  person,  is  always  punished 
more  severely  than  simple  robbery.  Fourth,  the  punishment  to  be  so 
adjusted  that  for  every  part  of  the  resulting  mischief  a  motive  may  b« 
provided  to  restrain  from  causing  it.     Fifth,  the  punishment  should  not  !>* 


PRINCIPLES   OF   PUNISHMENT.  10/ 

The  points  of  comparison  and  of  contrast  between 
the  school  and  the  family  have  been  noted.     The  more 

gteater  than  is  needed  for  these  ends.  Sixth,  there  should  be  taken  into 
a^xount  the  circumstances  affecting  the  sensibility  of  the  offenders,  as  age, 
sex,  wealth,  position,  so  that  the  same  punishment  may  not  operate  un- 
equally. Seventh,  the  punishment  needs  to  be  increased  in  magnitude  as 
i  falls  short  of  certainty.  Eighth,  it  must  be  further  increased  in  magni- 
tude as  it  falls  short  in  point  of  proximity.  Penalties  that  are  uncertain, 
and  those  that  are  remote,  correspondingly  fail  to  influence  the  mind. 
Ninth,  when  the  act  indicates  a  habit,  the  punishment  must  be  increased 
so  as  to  outweigh  the  profit  of  the  other  offences  that  the  offender  may 
commit  with  impunity  :  this  is  severe,  but  necessary,  as  in  putting  down 
the  coiners  of  base  money.  Tenth,  when  a  punishment  well  fitted  in  its 
quality  cannot  exist  in  less  than  a  certain  quantity,  it  may  be  of  use  to 
employ  it,  although  a  little  beyond  the  measure  of  the  offence  :  such  are 
the  punishments  of  exile,  expulsion  from  a  society,  dismissal  from  office. 
Eleventh,  this  may  be  the  case  more  particularly,  when  the  punishment  is 
a  moral  lesson.  Twelfth,  in  adjusting  the  quantum,  account  is  to  taken 
of  the  circumstances  that  render  all  punishment  unprofitable.  Thirteenth, 
if  in  carrying  out  these  provisions  anything  occurs  tending  to  do  more 
harm  than  the  good  arising  from  the  punishment,  that  thing  should  be 
omitted. 

In  regard  to  the  selection  of  punishments,  Benthamlays  down  a  number 
of  tests,  or  conditions  whereby  they  are  fitted  to  comply  with  the  foregoing 
requirements.  First,  is  the  quality  'of  variability :  a  punishment  should 
have  degrees  of  intensity  and  duration :  this  applies  to  fines,  corporal 
punishment,  and  imprisonment ;  also  to  censure,  or  ill-name.  Second, 
equability,  or  equal  application  under  all  circumstances  :  this  is  not  easy 
to  secure  ;  a  fixed  fine  is  an  unequable  punishment.  Third,  commefi- 
durability  :  that  is,  punishments  should  be  so  adapted  to  offences,  that  the 
offender  may  clearly  conceive  the  inequality  of  the  suffering  attached  to 
crimes  of  different  degrees  of  heinousness  :  this  property  can  be  grafted  on 
the  variable  punishments,  as  imprisonment.  Fourth,  characteristicalttess  : 
this  is  where  something  can  be  found  in  the  punishment  whose  idea 
exactly  fits  the  crime.  Bentham  dilates  upon  this  topic,  in  order  to 
discriminate  it  from  the  old  crude  method  of  an  eye  for  an  eye  :  cases  in 
point  occur  abundantly  both  in  the  family  and  in  the  school.  Fifth, 
txemplarity :  this  is  connected  with  the  impressiveness  of  a  punishment ; 
all  the  solemnities  accompanying  the  execution  increase  this  effect. 
Benlham,  however,  did  not  sufficiently  consider  the  evils  attending  too 
great  publicity,  which  have  led  to  withdrawing  punishments  from  the  gaze 


I08  PLAY   OF   MOTIVES  : — DISCIPLINE. 

special  distinction  of  tiie  school,  as  compared  with  rela- 
tions of  authority  in  general,  is  resolvable  into  its  main 
object,  namely.  Instruction,  for  which  the  condition 
that  needs  to  be  imposed  is  Attention  and  Application 
of  mind,  with  a  view  to  permanent  impressions — intel- 
lectual and  other.  To  evoke,  charm,  cajole,  compel  this 
attitude,  is  the  first  aim  in  all  teaching.  The  hostile 
influences  to  be  overcome  are  such  as  physical  inability 
and  exhaustion,  irksomeness  in  the  work,  diversions  and 
distractions  from  other  tastes,  with  the  natural  rebel- 
liousness of  human  beings  under  authority. 

The  arts  of  proceeding  are  not  the  same  for  a  single 
pupil  and  for  a  class.  For  the  single  pupil,  individu- 
ality may  be  studied  and  appealed  to  ;  for  the  class, 
individualities  are  not  considered.  Here,  the  element  of 
number  is  an  essential  feature  ;  carrying  with  it  both 
obstructions  and  aids,  and  demanding  a  very  special 
manipulation. 

It  is  in  dealing  with  numbers  that  the  teacher  stands 
distinguished  from  the  parent,  and  is  allied  to  the  wider 
authorities  of  the  State ;  exercising  larger  control,  en- 

of  the  multitude  ;  it  being  now  simply  intimated  that  they  have  been  carried 
out.  Sixth,  frugality  :  or  making  punishments  less  costly  to  the  State  ♦ 
as  when  prisoners  are  employed  productively.  Seventh,  subserviency  k 
reformation  :  by  weakening  the  seductive,  and  strengthening  the  preserving 
motives ;  as  in  giving  habits  of  labour  to  the  idle.  Eighth,  efficacy  in 
disablement :  as  in  deposition  from  office.  Ninth,  subserviency  to  compen- 
sation ;  as  by  pecuniary  inflictions.  Tenth,  popularity.  Bentham  lays 
rsuch  stress  upon  the  popularity  and  unpopularity  of  punishments,  whereby 
the  public  sympathy  may  work  for  or  against  the  law  :  when  a  punishment 
is  unjiopular,  juries  are  reluctant  to  convict,  and  public  agitation  is  stirred 
for  remission  of  sentence.  Eleventh,  simplicity  of  description  :  under  this 
head,  Bentham  comments  uponthe  obscure  and  unintelligible  descriptions 
of  the  old  law,  as  capital  felony,  pramunire.  Twelfth,  remissibility,  in  case 
of  uli^>take. 


AIDS  TO   DISCIPLINE.  IO9 

countering  greater  risks,  and  requiring  a  more  steady 
hand.  With  an  individual  pupil,  we  need  only  such  mo- 
tives as  are  personal  to  himself;  with  numbers,  we  are 
under  the  harsh  necessity  of  punishing  for  example. 

Good  physical  surroundings  are  known  to  be  half  the 
battle.  A  spacious  and  airy  building  ;  room  for  the 
classes  to  come  together  and  to  depart  without  confusion 
or  collision :  these  are  prime  facilities  and  aids  to  dis- 
cipline. Next  is  organization,  or  method  and  orderly 
arrangement  in  all  the  movements  ;  whereby  each  pupil 
is  always  found  in  the  proper  place,  and  the  entire  mass 
is  comprehended  under  the  master's  glance.  To  this 
follows  the  due  alternation  and  remission  of  work, 
avoiding  fatigue  and  maintaining  the  spirits  and  the 
energies  while  the  teaching  lasts. 

After  the  externals  and  arrangements,  come  the 
Methods  and  Arts  of  Teaching,  considered  as  imparting 
lucidity  to  the  explanations,  and  as  easing  the  necessary 
intellectual  labour  of  comprehension.  If  to  this  prime 
quality  can  be  added  extraneous  interest  or  charm,  so 
much  the  better  ;  but  it  must  not  be  at  the  expense  of 
clearness,  which  is  the  first  condition  of  getting  through 
the  subject. 

The  personality  of  the  teacher  may  be  in  favour  of 
his  influence  :  a  likable  exterior,  a  winning  voice  and 
manner,  a  friendly  expression,  when  relaxing  the  stern- 
ness of  authority.  This  is  the  side  of  allurement  or 
attraction.  The  other  side  is  the  stately,  imposing,  and 
dignified  bearing,  by  which  the  master  can  impersonate 
authority  and  be  a  standing  reminder  to  the  evil- 
disposed  of  the  flock.  It  is  seldom  given  to  one  man 
f)r  woman   to   display  both  attitudes  in  their  highest 


no  PLAY  OF   MOTIVES  :— DISCIPLINE. 

force ;  but  wherever,  and  to  whatever  extent,  they  can 
be  assumed,  they  constitute  a  barrier  to  disaffection  and 
remissness. 

Any  prominent  displays  of  swagger  and  self-conceit 
operate  against  the  teachers  influence,  and  incite  efi"ort3 
to  take  him  down.  It  is  possible  to  temper  authority 
with  an  unassuming  demeanour. 

Much  of  course  depends  upon  tact ;  meaning  by  that 
a  lively  and  wakeful  sense  of  everything  that  is  going 
on.  Disorder  is  the  sure  sequel  of  the  teacher's  failure 
in  sight  or  in  hearing ;  but  even  with  the  senses  good, 
there  may  be  absent  the  watchful  employment  of  them. 
This  is  itself  a  natural  incapacity  for  the  work  of  teach- 
ing ;  just  as  an  orator  is  sure  to  fail  if  he  is  slow  to 
discern  the  signs  of  the  effect  that  he  produces  on  his 
audience.  A  teacher  must  not  merely  be  sensitive  to 
incipient  and  marked  disorder ;  he  must  read  the  result 
of  his  teaching  in  the  pupils'  eyes. 

That  quietness  of  manner  that  comes  not  of  feeble- 
ness, but  of  restraint  and  coUectedness,  passing  easily 
into  energy  when  required,  is  a  valuable  adjunct  to 
discipline.  To  be  fussy  and  flurried  is  to  infect  the 
class  with  the  same  qualities  ;  unfavourable  alike  to 
repression  and  to  learning. 

Any  mistake,  miscarriage,  or  false  step,  on  the  part 
of  a  teacher,  is  for  the  moment  fatal  to  his  ascendancy. 
Such  things  will  happen,  and  they  render  undue  assumj^- 
tion  all  the  more  perilous. 

The  stress  of  the  teacher's  difficulty  lies  in  the 
heavings  of  a  mass  or  multitude.  The  working  o/ 
human  beings  collectivety,  is  wholly  distinct  from  their 
individual  action  ;   a  new  set  of  forces  and  influences 


DEALING   WITH   NUMBERS  m 

are  generated.  One  man  against  a  multitude  is  always 
in  the  post  of  danger.  As  units  in  a  mass,  every  indi- 
vidual displays  entirely  new  characters.  The  anti-social 
or  malevolent  passion — the  delight  in  gaining  a  triumph 
—which  is  suppressed  in  the  individual  as  against  a 
more  powerful  individual,  is  re-ignited  and  inflamed  in 
company  with  others.  Whenever  a  simultaneous  charge 
is  possible  the  authority  of  a  single  person  is  as  nought 
in  the  balance. 

It  is  often  said  that  the  teacher  should  get  the  col- 
lective opinion  on  his  side — should,  in  short,  create  a 
good  class-opinion.  It  is  easier  to  deserve  success  in 
this  than  to  command  it.  The  fear  is  that,  till  the  end 
of  time,  the  sympathy  of  numbers  will  continue  to 
manifest  itself  against  authority  in  the  school.  There 
will  be  occasions  when  the  infection  of  the  mass  is  a 
stronghold  of  order ;  as  when  the  majority  are  bent  on 
attending  to  the  work,  and  are  thwarted  by  a  few  dis- 
turbers of  the  peace  ;  or  when  they  have  a  general 
sympathy  with  their  teacher,  and  merely  indulge  them- 
selves in  rare  and  exceptional  outbursts.  While  a 
teacher's  merits  may  gain  for  him  this  position  of  ad- 
vantage, more  or  less,  he  is  never  above  the  risks  of  an 
outbreak,  and  must  be  ready  for  the  final  resort  of 
repression  by  discipline  or  penalties.  He  may  still 
work  by  soothing  applications,  gentle  and  kindly  re- 
monstrance :  he  may  check  the  spread  of  disaffection 
by  watchful  tactics,  and  by  showing  that  he  has  the 
ringleaders  in  his  eye  ;  but  in  the  end  he  must  punish. 

It  is  this  position  of  constant  preparedness  for 
disorder,  sometimes  in  isolated  individuals,  and  some- 
times in  the  mass,  that  demands  an  air  and  manner 


112  PLAY  OF  MOTIVES: — DISCIPLINE. 

betokening  authority,  and  carrying  with  it  a  certaii 
hauteiir  and  distance ;  the  necessity  for  which  is  the 
stronger  as  the  warring  elements  are  more  rife. 

The  disciphne  of  numbers  is  impeded  by  two  sorts 
of  pupils  ;  those  that  have  no  natural  liking  for  the 
subject,  and  those  that  are  too  far  behind  to  understand 
the  teaching.  In  a  perfectly- arranged  school,  both  sorts 
would  be  excluded  from  a  class. 

The  foregoing  considerations  lead  up  to  the  final 
subject — Punishment ;  in  administering  which,  the  prac- 
tice of  Education,  as  well  as  of  other  kinds  of  govern- 
ment, has  greatly  improved.  The  general  principles  of 
punishment  have  been  already  announced.  We  have  to 
consider  their  application  to  the  school.  But  first  a  few 
words  on  the  employment  of  Reward. 

Emulation — Prizes — Place-taking. 

All  these  names  point  to  the  same  fact  and  the  same 
motive — the  desire  of  surpassing  others,  of  gaining  dis- 
tinction ;  a  motive  that  has  already  been  weighed.  It 
is  the  most  powerful  known  stimulant  to  intellectual 
application ;  and  where  it  is  in  full  operation,  nothing 
else  is  needed.  Its  defects  are — (i)  it  is  an  anti-social 
principle ;  (2)  it  is  apt  to  be  too  energetic ;  (3)  it  is 
limited  to  a  small  number ;  (4)  it  makes  a  merit  of 
superior  natural  gifts. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  human  intellect  has  at  all  limes 
been  spurred  to  its  highest  exertions  by  rivalry,  con- 
test, and  the  ambition  of  being  first.  The  question  is, 
whether  a  more  moderate  pitch  of  excellence,  such  as 
befits  average  faculties,  could   not  be  attained  without 


INFLUENCE   OF   PRIZES.  II3 

that  stimulant.  If  so,  there  would  be  a  clear  moral 
gain.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  is  no  need  to  bring  it 
forward  prematurely,  or  to  press  its  application  at  the 
beginning.  In  the  infant  stage,  where  the  endeavour  is 
to  draw  out  the  amicable  sentiments,  it  is  better  kept 
back.  For  tasks  that  are  easy  and  interesting,  it  is 
unnecessary.  The  pupils  that  possess  unusual  aptitude, 
should  be  incited  to  modesty  rather  than  to  assumption. 

The  greater  prizes  and  distinctions  affect  only  a 
very  small  number.  Place-capturing,  as  Bentham  phrases 
it,  affects  all  more  or  less,  although,  in  the  lower  end  of 
a  class,  position  is  of  small  consequence.  Too  often  the 
attainments  near  the  bottom  are  nil.  A  few  contesting 
eagerly  for  being  first,  and  the  mass  phlegmatic,  is  not 
a  healthy  class. 

Prizes  may  be  valuable  in  themselves,  and  also  a 
token  of  superiority.  Small  gifts  by  parents  are  useful 
incitements  to  lessons ;  the  school  contains  prizes  for 
distinction  that  only  a  small  number  can  reach.  The 
schoolmaster's  means  of  reward  is  chiefly  confined  to 
approbation,  or  praise,  a  great  and  flexible  instrument, 
yet  needing  delicate  manipulation.  Some  kinds  of 
merit  are  so  palpable  as  to  be  described  by  numerical 
marks.  Equal,  in  point  of  distinctness,  is  the  fact  that 
a  thing  is  right  or  wrong,  in  part  or  in  whole ;  it  is 
sufificient  approbation  to  pronounce  that  a  question  is 
correctly  answered,  a  passage  properly  explained.  This 
is  the  praise  that  envy  cannot  assail.  Most  unsafe  are 
phrases  of  commendation ;  much  care  is  required  to 
make  them  both  discriminating  and  just.  They  need 
to  have  a  palpable  basis  in  facts.  Distinguished  merit 
should  not  always  be  attended  with  paeans  ;  silent  recog- 


114  ^^^^   °^   MOTIVES: — EMULATION. 

nition  is  the  rule,  the  exceptions  must  be  such  as  to  ex- 
tort admiration  from  the  most  jealous.  The  controlling 
circumstance  is  the  presence  of  the  collective  body  ; 
the  teacher  is  not  speaking  for  himself  alone,  but  direct- 
ing the  sentiments  of  a  multitude,  with  which  he  should 
never  be  at  variance ;  his  strictly  private  judgments 
should  be  privately  conveyed.  Bentham's  '  Scholar- 
Jury  Principle,'  although  not  formally  recognized  in 
modern  methods,  is  always  tacitly  at  work.  The  opinion 
of  the  school,  when  at  its  utmost  efficiency,  is  the  united 
judgment  of  the  head  and  the  members,  the  master  and 
the  mass.  Any  other  state  of  things  is  war :  although 
this  too  may  be  unavoidable. 

Punishment. 

The  first  and  readiest,  and  ever  the  best,  form  of 
Punishment  is  Censure,  Reprobation,  Dispraise,  to  which 
are  applicable  all  the  maxims  above  laid  down  for  praise. 
Definite  descriptions  of  definite  failures,  without  note 
or  comment,  are  a  power  to  punish.  When  there  are 
aggravations,  such  as  downright  carelessness,  a  damaging 
commentary  may  be  added  ;  but  in  using  terms  of  re- 
probation, still  more  strict  regard  has  to  be  paid  to 
discrimination  and  justice.  The  degrees  of  badness 
are  sometimes  numerical — measured  by  the  quantity  of 
lesson  missed,  and  the  repetition  of  the  failure  :  this  very 
definiteness  literally  stated  is  more  cutting  than  epithets. 

Strong  terms  of  reproof  should  be  sparing,  in  order 
to  be  more  effective.  Still  more  sparing  ought  to  be 
tones  of  anger.  Loss  of  "temper,  however  excusable,  is 
really  a  victor}'-  to  wrongdoers  ;  although  for  the  moment 


DISGRACE.— DETENTION.  1 1 5 

it  may  strike  terror.  Unless  a  man  is  of  fiendish  nature 
throughout,  he  cannot  maintain  a  consistent  course,  if  he 
gives  way  to  temper.  Indignation  under  control  is  a 
mighty  weapon.  Yet  it  is  mere  impotence  to  utter 
threats  when  the  power  of  execution  is  known  to  be 
wanting.  There  is  nothing  worse  for  authority  than  to 
over-vaunt  itself;  this  is  the  fatal  step  to  the  ridiculous. 

Punishments  must  go  deeper  than  words  ;  indeed,  the 
efficacy'  of  blame  depends  on  something  else  to  follow. 
Bearing  in  mind  what  are  the  evil  tendencies  to  be  en- 
countered in  school  discipline — want  of  application  being 
the  most  constant — we  may  review  the  different  kinds 
of  penalties  that  have  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
schoolmaster.  The  occasional  aggravation  of  disorder 
and  rebellion  has  also  to  be  encountered,  but  with  an 
eye  to  the  main  requisite. 

Simple  forms  of  Disgrace  have  been  invented,  in  the 
shape  of  shameful  positions,  and  humiliating  isolation. 
As  appealing  to  the  sense  of  shame,  these  are  powerful 
with  many,  but  not  with  all ;  their  power  varies  with  the 
view  taken  of  them  by  the  collective  body,  as  well  as 
with  individual  sensitiveness.  They  answer  for  smaller 
offences,  but  not  for  the  greatest  ;  they  may  do  to  begin 
with,  but  they  rapidly  lose  power  by  repetition.  It  is  a 
rule  In  punishment  to  try  slight  penalties  at  first :  with 
the  better  natures,  the  mere  idea  of  punishment  is 
enough  ;  severity  is  entirely  unnecessary.  It  is  a  coarse 
and  blundering  system  that  knows  of  nothing  but  the 
severe  and  degrading  sorts. 

Detention  from  play,  or  keeping  in  after  hours,  is 
very  galling  to  the  young  ;  and  it  ought  to  suffice  for 
even  serious  offences  ;  especially  for  riotous  and  unruly 


Il6  PLAY  OF   MOTIVES: — PUNISHMENT. 

tendencies,  for  which  it  has  all  the  merits  of  *  character- 
isticalness.'  The  excess  of  activity  and  aggressiveness 
is  met  by  withholding  the  ordinary  legitimate  outlets. 

Tasks  or  impositions  are  the  usual  punishment  of 
neglect  of  lessons,  and  are  also  employed  for  rebellious- 
ness ;  the  pain  lies  in  the  intellectual  ennui,  which  is 
severe  to  those  that  have  no  liking  for  books  in  any 
shape.  They  also  possess  the  irksomeness  of  confine- 
ment and  fatigue-drill.  They  may  be  superadded  to 
shame,  and  the  combination  is  a  formidable  penalty. 

With  all  these  various  resources  ingeniously  plied — 
Emulation,  Praise,  Censure,  Forms  of  Disgrace,  Confine- 
ment, Impositions — the  necessity  for  Corporal  Punish- 
ments should  be  nearly  done  away  with.  In  any  well- 
regulated  school,  where  all  the  motives  are  carefully 
graded,  through  a  long  series  of  increasing  privations 
and  penalties,  there  should  be  no  cases  but  are  suffi- 
ciently met.  The  presence  of  pupils  that  are  not  amen- 
able to  such  means  is  a  discord  and  an  anomaly ;  and 
the  direct  remedy  would  consist  in  removing  them  to 
some  place  where  the  lower  natures  are  grouped  together. 
Inequality  of  moral  tone  is  as  much  to  be  deprecated  in 
a  class  as  inequality  of  intellectual  advancement.  There 
should  be  Reformatories,  or  special  institutions,  for  those 
that  cannot  be  governed  like  the  majority. 

Where  corporal  punishment  is  kept  up,  it  should  be 
at  the  far  end  of  the  list  of  penalties ;  its  slightest  ap- 
plication should  be  accounted  the  worst  disgrace,  and 
should  be  accompanied  with  stigmatizing  forms.  It 
should  be  regarded  as  a  deep  injury  to  the  person  that 
inflicts  it,  and  to  those  that  have  to  witness  it — as  the 
height  of  shame  and   infamy.     It  ought  not  to  be  re- 


CORPORAL  PUNISHMENT.  ii;r 

peated  with  the  same  pupil :  if  two  or  three  applications 
are  not  enough,  removal  is  the  proper  course. 

The  misfortune  is  that  in  the  National  Schools  the 
worst  and  most  neglected  natures  have  to  be  introduced  : 
yet  they  should  not  brutalize  a  whole  school.  Even 
v;hen  children  are  habituated  to  blows  at  home,  it  does 
not  follow  that  these  are  necessary  at  school  ;  parents 
are  often  unskilful,  as  well  as  hampered  in  their  circum- 
stance.s  and  emergencies  are  pressing ;  the  treatment 
at  school  may  easily  rise  above  the  conduct  of  the  family. 
In  many  instances  the  school  will  be  a  welcome  haven 
to  the  children  of  troubled  homes ;  and  lead  to  the 
generous  response  of  good  behaviour. 

In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  children  of  wretched- 
ness are  not  always  those  that  give  trouble,  nor  is  it  the 
schools  where  these  are  found  that  are  most  given  to 
corporal  punishments.  The  schoolmaster's  most  way- 
ward subjects  come  often  from  good  families ;  and  they 
are  found  in  schools  of  the  highest  grade.  There  should 
be  no  difficulty  in  sending  away  from  superior  schools 
all  such  as  could  not  be  disciplined  without  the  degrada- 
tion of  flogging.' 

'  Testimonies  are  adduced  from  very  distinguished  men,  to  the  etteci 
that  without  flogging  they  would  have  done  nothing.  Melanchthon,  John- 
son, Goldsmith,  are  all  quoted  for  a  sentiment  of  this  kind.  We  must, 
however,  interpret  the  fact  on  a  wider  basis.  There  was  no  intermediate 
course  in  those  days  between  spoiling  and  corporal  punishment :  he 
that  spared  the  rod  hated  the  child.  Many  ways  can  now  be  found  of 
spurring  young  and  capable  minds  to  application;  and  corporal  punishment 
would  take  an  inferior  position  in  the  mere  point  of  efficiency. 

It  is  not  to  be  held  that  corporal  punishment,  to  such  extent  as  is 
permissible,  is  the  severest  form  of  punishment  that  may  be  administered 
in  connexion  with  the  school.  For  mere  pain,  a  whipping  would  often  be 
chosen  in  preference  to  the  intolerable  irksomeness  of  confinement  during. 


Il8  PLAY  OF   MOTIVES  :— CONSEQUENCES. 

The  Discipline  of  Consequences. 

The  idea  of  Rousseau  that  children,  instead  of  being 
punislied,  should  be  left  to  the  natural  consequences  of 
their  disobedience,  has  much  plausibility,  and  is  taken 
up  at  the  present  day  by  educationists.  Mr.  Spencer 
has  dwelt  upon  it  with  great  emphasis. 

One  obvious  limitation  to  the  principle  is,  that  the 
results  may  be  too  serious  to  be  used  for  discipline : 
children  have  to  be  protected  from  the  consequences  of 
many  of  their  acts. 

What  is  intended  is,  to  free  parents  and  others  from 
the  odium  of  being  the  authors  of  pain,  and  to  throw 
this  upon  impersonal  agencies,  towards  which  the  child 
can  entertain  no  resentment.  But  before  counting  on 
that  result,  two  things  are  to  be  weighed.  First,  the 
child  may  soon  be  able  to  see  through  the  device,  and 
to  be  aware  that  after  all  the  pain  is  brought  about  by 
virtue  of  a  well-laid^  scheme  for  the  purpose  ;  as  when 
the  unpunctual  child  is  left  behind.  Next,  the  personi- 
fying or  anthropomorphic  tendency  being  at  its  greatest 
in  early  years,  every  natural  evil  is  laid  at  the  door  of 
2,  person — known  or  unknown.  The  habit  of  looking  at 
the  laws  of  nature  in  their  crushing  application,  as  cold, 
passionless,  purposeless,  is  a  verj'  late  and  difficult  ac- 
quirement, one  of  the  triumphs  of  science  or  philosophy : 
we  begin  by  resenting  everything  that  does  us  harm, 
and  are  but  too  ready  to  look  round  for  an  actual  person 
to  bear  the  brunt  of  our  wrath. 

play  or  after  hours,  and  of  impositions  in  the  way  of  drill  tasks  ;  while  the 
language  of  censure  may  be  so  cutting  as  to  be  far  worse  than  blows. 
What  is  maintained  is,  that  these  other  punishments  are  not  so  liable  to 
abuse,  nor  so  brutalizing  to  all  concerned  as  bodily  inflictions. 


NATURAL  CONSEQUENCES.  1 19 

A  further  difficulty  is  the  want  of  foresight  and  fore- 
knowledge in  children  :  they  are  unable  to  realize  con- 
sequences when  the  evil  impulse  is  upon  them.  This,  of 
course,  decreases  by  time ;  and  according  as  the  sense 
of  consequences  is  strengthened,  these  become  more 
adequate  as  a  check  to  misconduct.  It  is  then  indiffe- 
rent whether  they  are  natural  or  ordained. 

Among  the  natural  consequences  that  are  relied  on 
as  correctives  of  misbehaviour  in  the  family,  are  such  as 
these  :  going  with  shabby  clothes,  from  having  spoilt  a 
new  suit ;  getting  no  new  toys  to  replace  those  that  are 
destroyed.  The  case  of  one  child  having  to  make  re- 
paration to  another  for  things  destroyed,  is  more  an 
example  of  Bentham's  '  characteristical '  punishment. 

In  school,  the  discipline  of  consequences  comes  in 
under  the  arrangements  for  assigning  each  one's  merit 
on  an  impersonal  plan  ;  the  temper  or  disposition  of  the 
master  being  nowhere  apparent.  The  regulations  being 
fixed  and  understood,  non-compliance  punishes  itselfl 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TERMS  EXPLAINED. 

In  discussing  Education-questions,  there  occur  certain 
terms  and  phrases  that  suspend  great  issues,  and  yet  are 
of  ambiguous  import.  Some  of  these  refer  to  faculties 
of  the  mind,  as  Memory,  Judgment,  and  Imagination, 
whose  scope  needs  to  be  clearly  comprehended.  Of 
equal  importance  is  it  to  fix  the  meanings  to  be  attached 
to  the  words — Training,  Culture,  Discipline — when  op- 
posed to  what  is  expressed  by  Information. 

MEMORY,  AND   ITS   CULTIVATION. 

Committing  to  Memory '  is  a  phrase  for  learning  or 
acquiring  those  parts  of  knowledge  that  are  imbibed 
without  apparently  exercising  the  higher  faculties  called 
Reason  and  Judgment.  Such  are — names,  word  lists, 
in  grammar,  and  in  language  generally.  Likewise  the 
events  that  we  have  witnessed  impress  themselves  on  our 
memory,  by  the  mere  fact  of  their  having  excited  our 
attention.  Again,  a  great  part  of  the  early  education 
of  children  consists  in  acquiring  the  fixed  arrangements 
of  things  that  make  up  their  habitual  environment. 
Also,  the  simpler  sequences  of  cause  and  effect  are  laid 
hold  of  at  first  by  a  mere  act  of  memory-. 


MEMORY  A   LIMITED   QUANTITY.  I2I 

In  order  that  such  acquisitions  may  proceed  rapidly, 
certain  conditions  must  be  fulfilled,  formerly  described 
as  the  conditions  of  Retentiveness  or  Memory.  The 
providing  for  these  conditions  is  sometimes  spoken  of 
as  exercising  the  Memory,  or  cultivating  the  Memorj'. 
Now  the  question  is  started — Can  we  by  any  artifices 
cultivate  or  strengthen  the  Memory,  or  the  power  of 
Retentiveness  as  a  whole  ?  We  may  acquire  know- 
ledge. Granted.  Can  we  strengthen  or  increase  the 
natural  powers  of  acquisition  ?  It  is,  no  doubt,  said 
with  justice  that  every  faculty  can  be  strengthened  by 
exercise ;  nevertheless,  as  regards  mental  power,  the 
effect  is  by  no  means  simple. 

The  absolute  power  of  Retentiveness  in  any  indi- 
vidual mind,  is  a  limited  quantity.  There  is  no  way  of 
extending  this  limit  except  by  encroaching  on  some  of 
the  other  powers  of  the  mind,  or  else  by  quickening  the 
mental  faculties  altogether,  at  the  expense  of  the  bodily 
functions.  An  unnatural  memory  may  be  produced  at 
the  cost  of  reason,  judgment,  and  imagination,  or  at  the 
cost  of  the  emotional  aptitudes.  This  is  not  a  desirable 
result. 

The  more  common  form  of  exalted  memory  is  the 
memory  for  a  special  subject,  which  grows  by  devo- 
tion to  that  subject ;  being  a  result  of  the  habits  of 
attention  that  are  engendered  towards  our  leading 
studies.  It  is  by  this  artificial  strain,  that  an  orator 
commits  his  speeches  to  memory  with  comparative  ease. 
The  memory  for  places  is  intensified  by  habitual  atten- 
tion, the  consequence  of  our  special  avocations ;  an 
engineer  or  an  artist  remembers  places,  not  by  superior 
general  memory,  nor  even  by  particular  memory,  but  by 


122  TERMS   EXPLAINED  :— JUDGMENT. 

the  strain  and  preference  of  attention,  accompanied  by 
neglect  of  other  matters. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  speaking  of  the  cultivation  o{ 
the  faculty  of  Memory,  we  should  simply  consider  the 
means  of  fostering  some  definite  class  of  acquisitions, 
according  to  the  established  laws  of  Retentiveness. 


JUDGMENT,  AND   ITS   CULTIVATION. 

This  is  a  word  employed  as  a  contrast  to  Memory, 
and  as  a  synonym  for  Understanding  and  Reason.  A 
teacher  is  expected  to  cultivate  in  pupils  not  only 
Memory,  but  also  Judgment. 

The- simplest  supposable  act  of  Judging  is  the  com- 
paring of  two  things,  as  to  their  differences,  or  their 
agreements,  or  both.  If  they  are  objects  of  sense,  as 
two  shades  of  colour,  it  is  mere  sense  discrimination,  and 
depends  upon  the  delicacy  of  the  sense  of  sight,  the 
amount  of  attention  bestowed,  and  the  close  juxtaposi- 
tion of  the  specimens.  The  very  same  conditions  favour 
the  discerning  of  agreements. 

When  the  two  things  to  be  compared  are  complex 
objects  of  sense,  as  two  machines,  two  houses,  two  trees, 
two  animals,  there  are  more  points  to  be  attended  to, 
but  the  operation  is  otherwise  the  same.  When  the 
objects  are  given,  partly  by  sense  appearances,  and 
partly  by  verbal  description  of  experimental  properties, 
as  two  minerals,  the  grasp  required  is  still  greater,  and 
the  precautions  are  more  specific.  It  takes  an  effort  to 
view  the  complex  whole  in  the  advantageous  attitude 
for  comparison  ;  that  is,  by  conceivLig  the  properties  of 
each  in  the  same  order.     This  kind  of  effort  is  the  result 


EXERCISES  OF  JUDGMENT.  1 23 

of  a  mental  discipline.  The  comparison  of  two  cases  in 
law,  of  two  theories  in  science,  of  the  two  different  ways 
of  expressing  the  same  doctrine,  or  explaining  the  same 
fact,  is  a  species  of  judgment,  and  is  favoured  by  orderly 
placing  of  the  several  circumstances  and  peculiarities. 

Still  higher  is  the  act  of  judging  something  present 
to  the  view  by  a  mental  standard  of  comparison,  the 
result  of  previous  knowledge  and  experience ;  as  when 
we  judge  of  the  propriety  or  suitability  of  a  work  of  in- 
dustry, or  of  art,  or  a  scheme  of  policy.  Here  we  have 
d  wide  field  of  comparison  ;  we  have  to  view  the  col- 
lateral facts,  and-  to  follow  out  consequences.  There 
are  other  and  better  ways  of  describing  this  mental  act 
than  calling  it  a  judgment ;  it  is  the  application  of  far- 
reaching  knowledge  to  determine  cause  and  effect.  This 
cannot  be  cultivated .  as  a  faculty ;  it  is  a  vast  accom- 
plishment, the  result  of  prolonged  experience  and  studies 
in  a  particular  department. 

Related  to  the  foregoing  is  the  giving  of  a  sound  de- 
cision in  conflicting  circumstances ;  the  taking  all  parts 
of  a  case  into  the  account,  instead  of  running  off  upon  one 
or  two  points.  The  man  that  views  a  problem  thoroughly 
and  exhaustively,  omitting  nothing  that  belongs  to  its 
solution,  is  called  a  man  of  judgment ;  but  there  is 
equal  impropriety  in  styling  this  a  faculty,  and  in  speak- 
ing of  improving  it  as  such. 

These  are  very  high  instances  of  the  Judging  facult}-, 
being  nothing  short  of  the  utmost  maturity  of  the  human 
understanding,  in  particular  departments  of  affairs.  It  is 
out  of  the  province  of  the  schoolmaster  to  speak  of  this 
kind  of  judgment.  There  is  a  more  familiar,  but  loose 
application  of  the  word,  brought  out  by  the  contrast  with 


124  TERMS   EXPLAINED  : — IMAGINATION. 

Memory  ;  the  power  of  comprehending  as  opposed  to 
the  power  of  remembering  by  rote.  This  is  a  real  and 
important  distinction,  better  expressed  by  Understand- 
ing, or  Comprehension,  than  by  judgment.  It  often 
occurs  to  us  in  teaching  to  have  to  test  a  pupil's  under- 
standing of  a  passage,  a  principle,  or  a  rule,  that  has 
been  committed  to  memory. 

Reason^  Rcasoiting,  and  giving  Reasofis  are  intellectual 
operations  not  far  removed  from  some  of  the  meanings 
of  Judgment.  They  are  much  more  definite  and  precise, 
in  consequence  of  their  use  in  Logic ;  by  reference  to 
which  they  can  be  learned,  better  than  in  any  other 
way. 

IMAGINATION. 

A  wide  word.  It  covers  operations  very  various 
in  kind,  and  its  employment  is  calculated  to  obscure 
some  of  the  most  critical  processes  in  education.  It 
has  in  some  of  its  meanings  a  very  lofty  function  ;  in 
others,  it  expresses  the  utter  degradation  of  the  human 
powers. 

'  Without  imagination,'  says  Godwin,  '  there  can  be 
no  genuine  ardour  in  any  pursuit,  or  for  any  acquisition, 
and  without  imagination  there  can  be  no  genuine  mo- 
rality, no  profound  feeling  of  other  men's  sorrows,  no 
ardent  and  persevering  anxiety  for  their  interests.'  This 
definition  trespasses  upon  a  number  of  distinct  mental 
powers,  including  all  that  is  comprised  in  the  name 
'  Sympathy.' 

The  first  meaning  of  Imagination  is  expressed  also 
by  Conception,  or  the  "Conceiving  Faculty,  whereby  we 
realize  a  picture  of  what  we  have  not  seen  ;  the  usual 


CONCEIVING   FACULTY.  12$ 

medium  of  presentation  being  language,  with  or  without 
the  aid  of  pictorial  sketches.  This  is  a  power  that  grows 
with  our  experience  of  scenes  and  situations,  and  depends 
on  the  goodness  of  the  pictorial  memory.  Excepting 
by  increase  of  knowledge,  there  is  scarcely  any  existing 
pi'ovision  for  cultivating  or  for  augmenting  the  power ; 
the  schoolmaster  could  do  little  for  it,  if  he  were  to  try. 
A  learner  may  be  exercised  in  conceiving  things  from 
descriptions ;  but  the  real  art  involved  in  the  case  is  the 
art  of  description  itself. 

To  enter  into  or  conceive  other  people's  feelings  is  an 
exercise  in  Sympathy  or  Moral  Education,  and  is  also  a 
means  to  our  enjoyment  of  history,  poetry,  and  romance. 
It  is  one  of  the  consequences  of  our  life  experience,  our 
social  dispositions,  and  our  acquired  knowledge,  but 
is  not  easily  brought  under  school  lessons.  Like  moral 
teaching  generally,  it  may  be  quickened  by  an  apt 
teacher  in  some  happy  moment,  but  cannot,  so  far  as  I 
am  aware,  be  made  to  recur  upon  a  pre-arranged  plan. 

There  is  the  same  error  in  speaking  of  Conception, 
as  a  faculty  to  be  trained,  that  was  already  remarked  upoj* 
under  Memory.  The  pupil  may  be  assisted  to  conceive 
certain  things,  as  a  ship  of  war,  a  tropical  forest,  or  a 
paradise  ;  the  instrumentality  being  language  well  em- 
ployed, together  with  sketches  or  pictorial  designs.  But 
this  is  not  cultivating  a  faculty  of  conceiving,  further  than 
that  one  successful  effort  facilitates  others  of  a  like  kind. 
As  a  systematic  practice,  it  is  not  embodied  in  any  form 
of  teaching  at  present  in  use :  although  incidental  to 
many  of  our  school  exercises,  it  is  not  steadily  followed 
o\it  in  any. 

The  highest  meaning  of  Imagination  is  the  creative 


126  TERMS   EXPLAINED: — IMAGINATION. 

faculty  of  the  poet  or  the  artist,  which  passes  entirely  out 
of  the  reach  of  express  training,  although  all  the  ways  of 
storing  the  mind  may  contribute  to  it.  It  is  excluded 
from  schemes  of  Education  as  too  high  for  the  school. 
But  it  contains  an  element  in  common  with  the  lowest 
and  easiest  efforts  of  Imagination — the  element  of  Feel- 
ing, or  Emotion,  which  distinguishes  Art  constructions 
from  the  creations  of  the  man  of  science.  Every  work 
of  art  gratifies  some  of  our  strong  emotions — Love, 
Anger,  Revenge,  Sublimity,  the  Ridiculous,  and  many 
others.  A  scientific  invention  is  a  matter  of  mere 
utility,  as  measured  by  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence. 

In  the  following  out  of  this  emotional  gratification, 
the  imaginative  artist  takes  great  liberties  with  his  sub- 
ject;  he  exaggerates,  re-arranges,  admits  fiction  and 
extravagance,  and  is  nowise  bounded  by  reality  or  truth. 
This  is  what  makes  the  charm  of  imaginative  literature, 
to  the  young  especially.  Far  more  powerful  emotions 
may  be  roused  by  romance  than  by  anything  in  the 
actual  world  of  events  ;  and  it  is  these  higher  effects  that 
we  covet.  This,  however,  is  not  so  properly  cultivating 
Imagination  as  revelling  in  it ;  extracting  emotional  ex- 
citement by  means  of  it.  Indulging  imagination  is  in- 
dulging the  emotions,  and  the  only  question  is — which 
emotions  } 

This  kind  of  Imagination  is  to  be  viewed,  in  the  first 
instance,  as  a  source  of  pleasure,  an  ingredient  in  the 
satisfaction  of  life.  In  addition  to  our  enjoyments  gained 
from  contact  with  realities,  we  crave  for  the  contribution 
that  comes  from  ideality.  Now,  ideality  is  a  different 
thing  for  different  ages":  fairy-tales  and  extravagances 
for  the  young  ;  the  poetry  of  Milton  for  the  old.     There 


EMOTIONAL  BASIS.  1 27 

fs  nothing  edufAtive,  in  the  first  instance  ;  we  are  not 
aiming  at  in?truction,  but  drinking  in  emotion.  The 
gratifying  of  children  with  the  literature  of  imagination 
is  a  matter  for  the  parent,  as  much  as  giving  them 
country  walks  or  holiday  treats.  It  has  a  good  side  and 
a  defective  side  ;  the  balance  is  struck,  in  any  adequate 
discussion  of  the  uses  and  abuses  of  '  Fiction '  as  a 
whole. 

While  the  basis  of  imaginative  interest  is  the  stimulus 
given  to  emotion,  there  is  a  certain  intellectual  element, 
in  the  pictrires,  scenes,  and  incidents  that  strike  out 
emotional  sparks.  These  are  impressed  on  the  memory 
through  the  excitement  that  they  cause  ;  they  become 
a  part  of  the  intellectual  furniture,  and  may  be  after- 
wards turned  to  account.  They  may  assist  in  imagina- 
tive creations  of  our  own,  and  be  used  as  illustrating  and 
adorning  the  sober  truths  of  reason.  When  we  come  to 
fictions  of  a  lofty  order,  as  the  works  of  the  great  poets, 
we  store  up  still  more  exquisite  pictorial  combinations  ; 
we  imbibe  into  our  recollections  the  highest  strokes  of 
human  genius.  Here,  then,  fiction  is  an  element  in  our 
education.  How  far  it  should  be  given  in  the  school  is 
a  question  for  future  consideration. 

It  is  apparent,  however,  that  the  conceptive  faculty, 
previously  spoken  of,  is  aided  by  the  presence  of  strong 
emotion  ;  but  if  aided,  it  is  also  limited  and  biassed. 
The  conception  is  taken  in,  just  as  it  suits  the  feeling, 
and  no  further.  The  conception  of  a  battle-scene  is  a 
great  effort  of  mental  constructiveness ;  but  it  is  never 
complete.  The  portions  that  excite  the  most  intense 
interest  are  conceived  with  some  tolerable  vividness  ;  we 
pick  and  choose  the  most  sensational  turns  of  the  action ; 


128  TERMS   EXPLAINED  : — IMAGINATION. 

but  of  the  general  arrangements  we  carry  away  only  the 
feeblest  notion. 

The  intervention  of  the  schoolmaster  in  the  culture 
of  imagination  ought  to  repress  the  extravagant  emotional 
preferences,  and  favour  the  complete  and  impartial  ex- 
ercise of  that  really  great  function  of  intellect — the  power 
of  conceiving,  in  all  the  exact  lineaments  and  propor- 
tions, scenes  and  events  that  have  not  been  exjjerienced 
— the  historical  imagination,  as  distinguished  from  the 
poetical.  Without  rejecting  the  aid  of  emotional  inte- 
rest, an  instructor  endeavours  to  counterwork  its  bias 
and  partiality,  not  to  speak  of  its  distortion  and  falsifi- 
cation of  reality.  The  power  of  full  concrete  realization 
is  a  high  effort  of  mind,  rarely  attained  even  by  the 
educated :  it  is  a  talent  in  itself ;  and  the  snatches  of 
fairyland  engrained  by  the  emotions  of  the  marvellous 
are  but  the  faintest  approaches  to  such  a  power. 

PROCEEDING   FROM    THE   KNOWN   TO   THE   UNKNOWN. 

This  is  a  favourite  maxim  of  the  teaching  art,  but  it 
is  seldom  set  forth  in  a  way  to  afford  definite  guidance. 
There  is  a  plain  enough  meaning  in  easy  cases  :  an  ex- 
planation should  consist  of  references  to  facts  already 
understood,  otherwise  it  cannot  itself  be  understood. 
This  is  merely  the  law  of  progress  from  the  elementary 
to  the  composite ;  to  master  one  stage  of  advancement 
before  proceeding  to  the  next.  Anyone  that  consciously 
violates  such  a  plain  requirement  is  hopeless  ;  and  he 
that  could  lay  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  say  that  he 
never  once  violated  it,  would  merit  immortal  remem- 
brance. 


CONSECUTIVE  ARRANGEMENT.  1 29 

If  a  demonstration  proceeds  upon  principles  not  al- 
ready understood  ;  if  a  description  contains  terms  with 
no  meaning  to  the  person  addressed ;  if  directions  in- 
volve acts  that  have  not  been  previously  performed,  the 
upshot  is  a  failure.  In  the  stage  where  instruction  is 
given  in  the  strict  methodical  form,  as  in  a  regular 
course  of  science,  the  consecutive  arrangement  is  more 
or  less  adhered  to,  yet  often  not  without  difficulty.  In 
the  previous  stages,  where  knowledge  is  given  by 
snatches,  there  is  no  security  for  the  right  order.  In  fact, 
the  most  immature  minds  are  exposed  to  the  greatest 
jumbles  ;  and  one  may  wonder  how  they  can  imbibe 
information  so  supplied.  The  course  may  be  inevitable, 
but  it  is  not  advantageous ;  and  it  will  be  necessary,  in 
a  subsequent  chapter,  to  consider  fully  why  the  necessity 
arises,  and  how  its  bad  effects  may  be  mitigated. 

In  speech  we  can  but  bring  forward  one  thing  at  a 
time  ;  our  facts  and  statements  follow  a  serial  order. 
Now,  for  the  comprehension  of  a  difficult  subject  it 
would  sometimes  be  desirable  that  two  or  three  things 
should  come  abreast,  and  be  simultaneously  conceived. 
This  is  one  obstacle  that  the  pupil  has  to  overcome. 
Another  evil  is,  that  our  clearest  and  most  elementary 
statement  may  unavoidably  introduce  matter  that  has 
not  previously  been  comprehended,  and  so  leave  a  blur  or 
dark  spot,  obscuring  all  that  follows,  until  such  time  as 
we  come  across  something  that  lightens  the  darkness. 

ANALYSIS  AND   SYNTHESIS. 

These  words  are  freely  made  use  of  in  laying  down 
directions  for  the  guidance  of  the  teacher.  The  mean- 
ings usually  assigned  to  them  are  very  hazy.     *  Analysis 


130     TERMS  EXPLAINED  :  -ANALYSIS  AND  SYNTHESIS. 

is  the  more  distinct  of  the  two  ;  there  being  certain 
specific  and  well-known  examples,  as,  '  the  Analysis  of 
the  Sentence,'  in  grammar.  Analysis  applied  to  read- 
ing-lessons is  not  quite  so  obvious ;  the  meaning  sug- 
gested is  that  a  complex  object  is  viewed  in  its  separate 
parts.  Thus,  a  steam-engine  could  be  analyzed  into 
the  cylinder,  the  parallel  motion,  the  fly-wheel,  the 
governor  balls,  and  so  on.  This,  however,  does  not 
need  such  a  high-sounding  name.  *  Description '  would 
suit  quite  as  well. 

The  most  scientific  meaning  of  Analysis  is  that 
connected  with  the  process  of  Abstraction.  A  concrete 
substance,  as  a  mineral,  or  a  plant,  is  analyzed  into 
its  constituent  properties,  by  successive  abstractions, 
whereby  each  in  its  turn  is  viewed  apart.  Such  is  the 
Natural  History  description  of  a  mineral — the  enume- 
ration of  its  properties,  mathematical,  physical,  and 
chemical.  For  this  use  the  word  is  somewhat  super- 
fluous, and  therefore  misleading. 

There  is  another  form  of  Analysis,  in  the  separation 
of  a  complex  effect  into  its  constituent  effects,  as  in  the 
revolution  of  the  motion  of  a  planet  into  the  two  ten- 
dencies centripetal  and  centrifugal.  In  the  same  sense, 
we  may  speak  of  analyzing  a  man's  character  or  motives. 
So  we  may  analyze  a  political  situation,  by  assigning  all 
the  influences  at  work. 

These  meanings  are  all  distinct  enough,  but  they  are 
not  all  in  want  of  this  special  name,  being  otherwise 
provided  for.  Except  in  the  well-understood  instance 
of  Grammatical  Analysis,  and  in  the  last-mentioned  case 
of  composition,  of  forces  or  agents,  we  should  be  much 
better    without     the    word.     Chemical    Analysis    and 


SYNTHESIS   AN   ABSTRUSE   NOTION.  13I 

Geometrical  Analysis,  are  peculiar  cases  that  need  not 
be  discussed. 

More  trouble  is  given  by  the  word  '  Synthesis,'  al- 
though it  ought  to  be  in  all  respects  the  opposite  or 
obverse  of  Analysis.  There  is  a  Grammatical  Syn- 
thesis, worked  out  by  Mr.  Dalgleish  into  an  exercise  in 
grammar,  in  which  the  members  of  a  sentence  in  separa- 
tion are  to  be  put  in  their  places  again.  In  the  resolv- 
ing of  a  complex  object  into  its  parts,  with  a  view  to 
orderly  delineation,  as  a  machine,  there  is  no  correspond- 
ing synthesis  :  the  word  has  no  meaning. 

The  abstractive  Sv^paration  of  properties  does  not 
need  any  synthesis.  When  abstraction  prepares  us  for 
making  an  inductive  generalization,  like  the  Law  of 
Gravity,  there  is  a  counter  process  of  deductive  carrying 
out  of  the  law  to  new  cases,  and  this  may  be  called 
synthesis;  but  'deduction'  is  a  better  word. 

When  we  analyze  the  forces  at  work  in  an  operation 
— physical,  mental,  or  social — we  do  not  need  to  com- 
pound them  again,  unless  we  were  supposing  new  situa- 
tions, where  the  composition  is  differently  made  up. 
We  could  chalk  out  the  orbit  of  a  planet  whose  solar 
distance  and  other  elements  were  different  from  the 
cas2  of  any  known  planet. 

To  express  the  conduct  of  any  school-lesson,  under 
either  of  the  terms  Analysis  and  Synthesis,  is  to  produce 
the  utmost  confusion  in  the  mind  of  a  young  teacher : 
as  everj'thing  that  the  words  cover  is  conveyed  by  other 
names,  more  expressive  and  more  intelligible ;  such  are 
Description,  Explanation,  Abstraction,  Induction,  De- 
duction. 


132  TERMS  EXPLAINED: — OBJECT  LESSONS. 

OBJECT   LESSONS. 

Considerable  ambiguity  attaches  to  the  phrase  *  Ob- 
ject Teaching.'  It  seems  to  have  come  into  use  through 
Pestalozzi's  system  of  imparting  the  abstractions  of 
Number,  &c.,  by  concrete  examples.  This  is  a  per- 
fectly  intelligible  meaning,  and  lies  also  at  the  founda- 
tion of  all  teaching  of  general  knowledge.  In  the 
carrying  out  of  the  system,  the  teacher  brings  forward 
such  a  selection  of  concrete  objects  as  concur  in  some 
one  general  impression,  notwithstanding  great  differences 
in  other  respects.  To  impress  the  number  '  four,'  a 
great  many  groups  of  four  would  be  presented  to  the 
pupil  ;  to  impress  the  notion  of  a  circle,  many  round 
objects  would  be  adduced,  differing  in  size,  material, 
and  other  points. 

The  Object  Lesson  represents  a  totally  different  line 
of  tuition,  when  it  is  looked  upon  as  cultivating  the 
senses  or  maturing  the  observing  faculties.  The  former 
case  related  to  generalities,  this  refers  to  specialities 
When  a  pupil  is  set  to  discriminate  nice  shades  of  colour, 
or  differences  of  musical  tone,  it  is  by  presenting  these  to 
the  senses  and  inciting  the  attention  upon  them.  How 
far  this  is  requisite  in  ordinary  school  education,  is  a 
doubtful  matter.  When  a  special  art  is  taught,  as 
painting  or  music,  the  delicate  discrimination  of  degrees 
of  colour  or  tones  is  a  part  of  the  teaching ;  but  with  a 
view  to  knowledge  of  the  world,  the  same  special  train- 
ing may  not  be  necessary,  except  on  set  occasions  or  for 
select  purposes.  It  is  no  part  of  the  highest  knowledge 
of  things  in  general  to  possess  a  delicate  tact  in  mea- 
suring lengths  by  the  eye  or  weights  by  the  hand. 


OBJECT  LESSONS  IN   LANGUAGE.  133 

At  all  events,  this  special  acquirement  docs  not  need 
the  designation  '  Object  Lessons '  to  set  it  forth.  The 
•cultivation  of  the  senses'  is  a  more  suitable  mode  of 
describing  it ;  and  such  cultivation  is  a  very  intelligible 
form  of  training,  if  we  only  satisfy  ourselves  that  it  is 
required. 

A  third  aspect  of  the  Object  Lesson  has  reference 
to  the  acquisition  of  Language,  which,  in  the  first 
instance,  is  the  associating  of  things  with  their  names. 
In  order  to  connect  a  word  with  a  thing,  we  must  have 
some  notion  of  the  thing  ;  by  sense,  obser\'^ation,  or  in 
whatever  way  it  comes  before  us.  The  names  first  learnt 
are  the  names  of  familiar  surrounding  objects,  for  the 
most  part  individual  and  concrete.  Attention  is  directed 
upon  the  objects,  and  the  names  are  pronounced,  and 
there  is  a  speedy  union  of  the  two  in  an  act  of  associa- 
tion or  memory.  To  extend  the  knowledge  of  language 
is  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  objects  ;  and,  according  as 
we  have  opportunity  of  bringing  forward  new  objects 
and  of  getting  them  attended  to,  we  enlarge  the  intelli- 
gent use  of  language,  with  which  goes  hand  in  hand  a 
knowledge  of  the  world,  at  least  so  far  as  concerns  the 
characteristic  properties  of  things.  To  use  names  pro- 
perly we  must  not  confound  things  that  differ ;  we  must 
know  enough  for  discrimination,  although  we  may  not 
know  everything.  The  dog  must  not  be  mistaken  for 
the  cat,  nor  the  lamp  confounded  with  the  fire. 

It  does  not  seem,  at  first  sight,  as  if  the  lessons  of 
the  schoolmaster  could  contribute  much  to  this  species 
of  object  knowledge.  It  grows  out  of  the  whole  ex- 
perience of  the  waking  life. 

Moreover,  Object  Knowledge  is  scarcely  the  proper 


1 34  TERMS   LXPLATNED  : — OBJECT   LESSONS. 

designation  for  this  case  either.  Many  of  the  things 
noted,  and  especially  the  earliest,  are  the  individual  things 
about  us  ;  but  to  mark  these  is  only  a  first  stage,  and 
is  followed  up  by  a  grander  operation.  General  names 
soon  come  to  be  used  and  understood  by  every  child. 
No  doubt  these  correspond,  at  first,  to  very  easy  gene- 
ralities— light,  dark,  big,  little,  chair,  spoon,  doll,  man, 
water,  and  sc  on  ;  nevertheless,  they  have  to  be  under- 
stood, not  by  looking  at  one  thing,  but  by  comparing 
different  things,  attending  to  agreements  and  abstract- 
ing differences. 

Again,  it  has  been  pointed  out,  that  many  terms 
express  situations  of  things  rather  than  things  them- 
selves. Such  are  all  the  names  for  time,  and  place,  and 
circumstances.  Yesterday,  to-morrow,  are  not  objects  ; 
out  of  doors,  in  the  house,  are  situations.  Actions,  in 
like  manner,  involve  a  distinct  mode  of  looking  at  the 
world;  'drink,'  'stand,'  'come,'  'speak,'  'cry,'  'bring,' 
are  intelligible  to  the  youngest  child,  from  observing 
a  whole  configuration  or  group  of  appearances. 

Once  more,  what  shall  we  say  to  subject  states, 
which  come  early  to  the  foreground,  along  with  the 
things  of  the  outer  world.''  The  elementary  states  of 
being  pleased  and  pained,  of  liking  and  disliking,  are 
noted  by  the  infant  experience,  and  come  to  be  matters 
of  mutual  understanding  at  a  very  early  stage. 

Thus,  in  the  learning  of  language,  there  are  various 
well-marked  operations  that  ought  to  be  viewed  by 
themselves,  as  they  enter  into  the  economy  of  teaching, 
and  that  ought  to  be  described  in  appropriate  terms, 
and  not  by  the  very  ambiguous  and  misleading  phrase 
— Object  Lessons. 


OBJECT  TEXTS.  1 35 

Another  meaning  remains.  I  allude  to  the  practice 
of  giving  exhaustive  lessons,  on  selected  objects,  in  the 
course  of  the  ordinary  teaching.  Thus,  to  take  a  piece 
of  Coal.  A  specimen  is  produced,  and  attention  is 
called  to  its  appearance  and  various  sensible  properties ; 
by  which  the  pupil  is,  perhaps,  made  to  inspect  it  more 
najrowly  and  curiously  than  before.  Thus  far,  we 
might  call  it  a  Sense,  or  Observation,  lesson.  But  the 
master  does  not  stop  here :  he  goes  minutely  into  the 
Natural  History  and  Chemistry  of  Coal ;  describing 
where  it  comes  from,  how  it  is  first  produced,  what 
uses  it  serves,  and  by  virtue  of  what  properties  it  serves 
these  uses.  This  may  be  called  an  Information  lesson 
on  an  object.  A  chosen  substance  is  made  the  text  for 
a  dissertation  on  natural  processes  and  properties  that 
implicate  many  other  substances.  We  cannot  give  the 
history  of  coal  without  adverting  to  the  Structure  of 
Plants  ;  nor  can  we  assign  its  uses  without  bringing  in 
Chemical  Union  and  Heat.  The  propriety  of  this  kind 
of  lesson  depends  on  various  circumstances ;  and  the 
consideration  of  these  will  come  up  again.  It  is  not  so 
much  an  object  lesson,  as  the  employment  of  an  Object 
Text.  It  enables  us  to  group  a  mass  of  very  abstract 
notions  and  properties  round  a  concrete  unit.  It  is  a 
convenient  form  of  the  popular  lecture,  as  when  we  see 
Professor  Huxley  or  Dr.  Carpenter  adopting,  as  a  topic 
of  discourse,  a  piece  of  Chalk. 

INFORMATION   AND   TRAINING. 

The  contrast  between  Information,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  Training,    Discipline,    calling    out    the  Powers    or 
Faculties,  on  the  other,  is  one  that  plays  a  great  part 
II 


136  TERMS   EXPLAINED  :— INFORMATION. 

in  discussions  relative  to  education.  It  is  expedient  to 
clear  up  this  distinction  in  the  only  way  that  it  can  be 
done,  namely,  by  examples  of  the  two  effects.  The 
allegation  is  often  made,  that  there  are  kinds  of  instruc- 
tion of  little  value  as  information,  but  of  such  supreme 
efficacy  as  discipline,  that  they  are  to  be  preferred  to 
any  species  of  information  that  is  nothing  beyond  in- 
formation. The  object  of  education,  it  is  said,  is  not  to 
instil  truths,  but  to  draw  out  and  exercise  the  mind's 
faculties  and  forces. 

First,  as  to  Information.  The  Arithmetical  opera- 
tions of  adding,  multiplying,  &c.,  taught  for  the  purposes 
of  practice,  without  any  reference  to  their  foundations  or 
principles,  would  probably  be  regarded  as  useful  infor- 
mation, but  not  as  discipline.  This  is,  in  fact,  the  way 
that  they  are  apprehended  by  the  great  majority  of 
pupils. 

Again,  in  regard  to  our  own  language.  All  the 
usages  of  the  language,  including  the  highest  rules  of 
correctness  and  propriety,  may  be  imparted  merely  as 
guidance  in  speaking  and  writing  with  exactness ;  there 
being  no  attempt  to  cast  them  into  a  methodical  shape 
or  to  reduce  them  under  rational  explanations.  This 
would  be  pure  information  ;  the  teaching  of  language,  so 
conducted,  would  be  very  useful,  but  would  not  be  called 
a  mental  discipline.  Those  persons  that  all  their  life 
have  been  associated  with  only  such  as  speak  correctly 
and  elegantly,  become  correct  and  good  speakers  with- 
out any  training  at  all.  A  foreign  language  might  be 
imparted  in  the  same  way ;  even  the  dead  languages 
could  be  taught  without  grammars  or  rules  ;  that  is  to 
say,  by  mere  habituation  in  reading  books. 


FACTS  CONSTITUTING  INFORMATION.  1 37 

Historical  facts  are  for  the  most  part  nothing  more 
than  information.  They  must  follow  the  order  of  time, 
but  this  constraint  does  not  amount  to  a  mental  disci- 
pline. Chronology  informs  us  of  the  sequence  of  the 
greater  events  of  History ;  it  is  laid  up  in  the  memory 
as  so  much  information,  and  does  not  aspire  to  draw 
forth  or  cultivate  any  faculty  ;  it  is  merely  one  of  many 
ways  of  calling  memory  into  use. 

Geographical  facts  may  be  simply  matter  of  infor- 
mation. In  so  far  as  they  are  devoid  of  connection  and 
system,  they  are  information  solely.  In  so  far  as  they 
can  be  embodied  in  an  orderly  scheme — a  descriptive 
method,  which  facilitates  both  the  recollection  and  the 
understanding  of  them,  they  rise  to  some  sort  of  train- 
ing. They  require  the  pupils  to  master  the  scheme,  and 
so  give  them  possession  of  it,  as  an  art  that  they  may 
themselves  employ  in  dealing  with  similar  details. 

All  those  facts  that  relate  to  useful  operations  in  the 
arts  of  life,  that  serve  to  guide  artificers  in  their  work, 
and  to  instruct  everyone  how  to  attain  desirable  ends, 
constitute  a  vast  body  of  useful  information.  The 
recipes  of  cookery,  the  arts  of  husbandry  and  of  manu- 
facture, the  cures  of  disease,  the  procedure  in  courts  of 
law,  are  most  valuable  as  information;  but  they  are  not 
regarded  as  giving  us  any  form  of  discipline.  Our  books 
of  household  management,  of  horticulture,  and  of  the 
rearing  of  animals,  are  full  of  the  best  possible  informa- 
tion, but  nothing  more. 

Even  in  the  Sciences,  properly  so  called,  there  may 
be  matter  that  a  pupil  imbibes  merely  as  so  much 
information.  The  practical  conclusions  from  scientific 
principles  may  be  seized  and  turned  to  account,  while 


138  TERMS   EXPLAINED: — INFORMATION. 

the  demonstrations,  deductions,  and  proofs  are  wholly 
missed,  as  already  mentioned  in  regard  to  Arithmetic. 
Even  in  geometry  a  student  may  carry  away  with  him 
the  theorems,  as  so  many  truths  applicable  to  practice, 
without  understanding  their  dependence  upon  each 
other ;  in  other  words,  without  knowing  geometry  as  a 
science.  So  we  may  have  a  large  stock  of  physical, 
chemical,  and  physiological  facts,  and  may  be  quite 
correct  in  our  statements  of  them,  and  yet  may  not 
know  any  one  of  these  sciences.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  the  knowledge  of  mind. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  a  low  order  of  intelligence 
that  has  taken  in,  remembered,  and  is  able  to  apply  an 
extensive  stock  of  maxims  of  practice  and  utility  in 
various  departments.  There  -may  not  be  anything 
amounting  to  high  discipline,  but  there  is  an  ex- 
penditure of  good  intellectual  force.  The  higher  the 
character  of  the  work,  the  more  scope  is  there  for  fine 
discrimination  or  accurate  perception,  in  order  to  suit 
the  means  to  the  end.  Navigating  a  ship,  practising 
physic,  may  be  on  the  basis  of  information  alone  ;  but  it 
is  a  superior  order  of  information.  There  is,  in  short,  a 
scale  of  amount  and  difficulty,  in  regard  to  what  we  may 
consider  as  mere  information  ;  and  when  we  touch  the 
higher  degrees,  we  come  upon  something  that  involves 
the  best  faculties  or  forces  of  the  mind. 

The  truth  is,  that  for  the  higher  professions  the  extent 
of  practical  knowledge  is  such  that  it  cannot  be  compre- 
hended, held  together,  or  rendered  sufficiently  precise, 
unless  we  have  a  certain  amount  of  science  and  scientific 
method,  such  as  would  probably  come  within  the  scope 
of  Discipline. 


TRAINING  THE  FACULTIES.  1 39 

Let  US  now  review  the  meanings  of  DISCIPLINE. 
While  the  mere  facts  of  science,  turned  to  account  in 
practical  operations,  are  called  information,  the  method 
of  science,  the  systematic  construction  of  it,  the  power 
01  concatenating  and  deriving  truths  from  other  truths, 
is  treated  as  something  distinct  and  superior.  The 
thorough  comprehension  of  the  method  of  Euclid,  the 
tracing  of  the  Arithmetical  and  Algebraical  rules  to  first 
principles,  would  be  considered  as  training,  discipline, 
the  calling  forth  of  the  powers. 

Most  definitions  of  training  are  obscured  through  the 
mode  of  describing  mind  by  faculties.  We  have  seen 
that  to  train  '  Memory '  is  a  very  vague  way  of  speak- 
ing. Equally  vague  is  it  to  talk  of  training  Reason, 
Conception,  Imagination,  and  so  forth.  Moral  training 
is  much  more  intelligible ;  there  is  here  a  habit  of  sup- 
pressing certain  active  tendencies  of  the  mind,  and 
fostering  others ;  and  this  is  done  by  a  special  discipline 
— like  training  horses  or  making  soldiers.  The  analogy 
is  not  very  close  between  these  exercises  and  the  im- 
provement of  the  intellectual  powers;  still,  such  as  it 
is,  it  is  illustrative.  To  train  a  soldier  is  to  bring  him 
to  the  ready  performance  of  a  number  of  combined 
movements,  to  which  he  is  led  on  by  graduated  exercises. 
Head  knowledge,  or  information,  is  combined  with  the 
training,  but  is  a  distinguishable  factor.  In  all  other 
skilled  avocations,  a  similar  element  of  training  is 
present.  In  many,  however,  the  muscular  aptitudes  do 
not  form  the  main  part;  the  training  penetrates  more 
into  the  thoughts  or  ideas.  For  example,  the  training 
of  an  officer  is  more  mental  than  bodily;  it  consists  in 
a  knowledge  of  the  configurations,  movements,  group- 


I40  TERMS  EXPLAINED  :— TRAINING. 

ings  of  bodies  of  men;  and  a  readiness  to  direct  the 
proper  movement  in  the  proper  situation.  It  is  know- 
ledge reah'zable  in  practice  with  the  quickness  of  an 
instinct. 

While  science,  as  already  noted,  may  be  imbibed  in 
a  form  that  does  not  pass  beyond  information,  the  arts 
of  scientific  observation  and  research  imply  training 
proper.  The  senses  have  to  be  exalted,  the  attention 
directed,  methods  of  procedure  learnt,  to  the  pitch  of 
habituation;  with  all  which  there  concurs  much  informa- 
tion of  details,  but  the  information  is  distinct  from  the 
training. 

In  the  vast  accomplishment  of  Speech,  we  can 
enumerate  various  things  properly  designated  training. 
Elocution,  or  the  management  of  the  voice,  would  be 
considered  as  training  throughout.  The  knowledge 
of  detached  names  would  exemplify  information  pure 
and  simple;  it  is  bare  word  memory.  The  arrange- 
ment of  words  in  sentences,  with  attention  to  gramma- 
tical forms  and  all  the  other  proprieties  of  speech,  would 
be  accounted  training.  The  still  higher  arts  of  arrang- 
ing the  thoughts  in  lucid  expression,  if  known  only  as 
rules  or  theory,  might  be  called  information ;  but  when 
embodied  in  habits  would  rank  as  training.  Hence  we 
speak  of  a  trained  orator  or  writer.  It  is  in  this  sense 
that  moral  teaching  and  moral  training  are  totally  dis- 
tinct things. 

The  element  of  Form,  Method,  Order,  Organization, 
as  contrasted  with  the  subject-matter  viewed  without 
reference  to  form,  has  a  value  of  its  own ;  and  any 
material  that  displays  it  to  advantage,  and  enables  it 
to  be  acquired,  is  justified  by  that  circumstance  alone. 


SUBJECTS  THAT  GIVE  TRAINING.  141 

The  targets  used  in  learning  to  shoot,  the  wooden  sol- 
diers that  are  aimed  at  in  sabre  drill,  although  unreal, 
are  effectual. 

Worth  belongs  to  any  subject  of  study  if  it  convej'S 
methods  that  are  useful  far  beyond  itself.  The  sciences 
that  embody  an  organization  for  aiding  the  mind — 
whether  in  deductive  method,  such  as  Geometry  and 
Physico-mathematical  Science;  in  observation  and  in- 
duction, as  the  Physical  Sciences;  or  in  clabsification, 
as  the  Natural  History  Sciences ; — would  on  these 
grounds  alone  be  admitted  to  the  higher  circle  of 
mental  Discipline  or  Training,  irrespective  of  the  value 
of  the  facts  and  principles  viewed  separately  or  in  detail. 
It  depends  partly  on  the  teacher  and  partly  on  the 
scholar  whether  the  element  of  method  shall  stand 
forth  and  extend  itself,  or  whether  the  subjects  shall 
only  yield  their  own  quantum  of  matter  or  information. 

Logic  is  nothing,  if  not  training.  The  information 
mixed  up  with  it  is  all  to  be  used  for  training  purposes. 
It  is  the  element  of  scientific  form,  which  is  more 
thoroughly  impressed  by  being  singled  out  for  special 
consideration.     It  is  the  grammar  of  knowledge. 

There  is  a  form  of  mental  efficiency  that  attaches 
more  or  less  to  every  productive  effort — the  giving  at- 
tention to  all  the  rules  and  conditions  necessary  for  the 
result  intended.  We  cannot  perform  any  piece  of  work 
unless  we  are  alive  to  everything  that  is  involved  in  it ; 
we  cannot  guide  a  boat,  unless  we  manage  sail  and 
rudder  according  to  the  direction  of  the  wind.  We 
cannot  turn  out  a  good  sentence  without  fulfilling  nume- 
rous conditions.  When  we  follow  written  rules,  we  must 
interpret    them  correctly,  and  apply  them   appositel)' 


142  TERMS   EXPLAINED  I— ONE   THING  WELL. 

This  is  a  discipline  that  we  learn  from  everything  that 
we  have  to  do  ;  it  is  not  a  prerogative  of  any  one  study 
or  occupation,  and  it  does  not  necessarily  extend  itself 
beyond  the  special  subject.  Because  a  man  can  hunt 
well,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  shall  be  a  good  politician 
or  a  good  judge  ;  although  in  all  these  functions  there 
is  the  common  circumstance  of  taking  account  of 
every  condition  that  enters  into  a  given  effect.  A 
very  superior  mind,  like  Cromwell's,  probably  transfers 
the  conditions  of  efficiency  from  one  department  to 
others  remote  from  it;  and  thus  becomes  rapidly  de- 
veloped into  fitness  for  new  domains  of  practice. 

In  our  subsequent  review  of  Education  Values,  the 
difference  between  Information  and  Training  will  be 
Tendered  still  more  precise. 

ONE  THING  WELL. 

This  is  a  favourite  commonplace  of  teaching  and  of 
private  study.  It  proceeds  upon  the  idea  that  it  is 
better  to  be  thoroughly  versed  in  one  limited  walk  of 
knowledge  or  culture,  than  to  pass  slightly  over  a  wider 
area. 

There  are  different  senses  attached  to  learning  any- 
thing well.  In  the  first  place,  it  may  mean  simply  that 
full  habituation  to  any  piece  of  knowledge  or  practice 
that  makes  it  a  matter  of  mechanical  certainty  and  ease  ; 
as  in  the  case  of  a  thorough  proficient  in  Arithmetical 
sums.  Long  iteration  has  this  effect  in  everything ;  and 
it  is  indispensable  in  matters  of  business  occupation. 

In  the  second  place,  there  is  a  higher  form  of  learn- 
ing anything  well,  by  which  is  meant  a  full  and  minute 
acquaintance  with  all  details,  qualifications,  exceptions. 


THOROUGH  KNOWLEDGE.  143 

and  whatever  is  included  in  the  complete  mastery  of  a 
large  and  complicated  system.  This  is  the  equipment 
of  a  thorough  lawyer  or  a  thorough  physician,  who  must 
know  both  leading  doctrines  and  their  varying  applica- 
tions to  a  wide  host  of  varying  circumstances.  So  much 
Is  involved  in  these  professions,  that  no  man  is  expected 
to  be  versed  in  more  than  one.  So,  in  any  of  the  lead- 
ing sciences,  there  is  a  kind  of  master}'  that  is  equally 
multifarious  and  absorbing ;  whether  it  be  the  innume- 
rable combinations  of  mathematical  formulae,  the  vast 
details  accompanying  an  experimental  science,  like 
Chemistry,  or  the  seemingly  still  more  inexhaustible 
fields  of  Botany  and  Zoology.  To  be  thoroughly  ac- 
complished in  any  one  of  these  branches,  we  must  be 
content  with  a  limited  acquaintance  with  the  other 
departments.  The  expression  for  this  higher  knowledge 
is  more  properly  multa  than  mtiltum;  the  field  may  be 
circumscribed,  but  its  minute  and  exhaustive  survey 
implies  a  multitudinous  knowledge.  For  tne  highest 
uses  of  a  science,  this  is  the  only  knowledge  that  avails. 
In  the  point  of  view  of  information,  a  single  fact,  if 
clearly  understood,  is  of  value,  although  no  other  be 
drawn  from  the  same  source.  And  even  as  regards 
discipline,  in  the  acceptation  of  special  method,  this  is 
best  learned  in  a  select  and  limited  portion  of  material ; 
as  when  we  study  classification  from  Botany.  In  neither 
of  these  respects  is  it  necessary  to  spend  time  over  an 
exclusive  subject.  Having  a  definite  purpose,  we  must 
pick  and  choose  at  many  points,  and  the  present  maxin* 
is  without  relevance. 

In  a  right  view  of  scientific  education,  the  first  prin- 
ciples and  leading  examples,  with  select  details,  of  all 


144         TERMS   EXPLAINED: — ONE   THING   WELL. 

the  great  sciences,  are  the  proper  basis  of  the  complete 
and  exhaustive  study  of  any  single  science.  This  may 
not  be  apparent  in  Mathematics,  the  first  of  the  funda- 
mental sciences,  but  it  applies  to  all  beyond.  A  man 
cannot  be  a  good  chemist  without  possessing,  on  the 
one  side,  a  fair  knowledge  of  Physics,  grounded  in  Ma- 
thematics, and,  on  the  other,  some  acquaintance  with 
Physiology.  The  thorough  knowledge  of  every  subject 
implicates  everything  that  leads  up  to  it,  as  well  as 
everything  that  can  throw  side-lights  upon  it ;  although, 
of  course,  these  aiding  subjec  s  are  not  mastered  to  the 
same  extent  as  the  subject  that  they  are  intended  to 
assist.  In  almost  all  departments  of  study  there  are 
gradations  of  acquirement,  each  thorough  and  sufficient 
for  a  given  purpose.  This  is  least  true  of  languages ; 
seeing  that,  till  we  have  reached  the  point  when  a 
language  can  be  used  in  communication,  we  have  done 
little  or  nothing. 

In  the  situation  of  the  beginner  in  any  branch  of 
knowledge,  it  is  expedient  to  abide  by  one  course,  one 
scheme,  one  book,  although  not  absolutely  perfect.  When 
the  very  groundwork  has  to  be  laid,  distracting  views  are 
to  be  avoided.  Before  criticizing,  controverting,  or  amend- 
ing a  system,  the  teacher  should  make  his  pupils  perfectly 
familiar  with  its  details.  In  Geometry,  Euclid,  or  what- 
ever other  book  is  chosen,  is  verbally  adhered  to,  as  if 
it  were  an  infallible  revelation;  when  once  thoroughly 
known,  defects  may  be  pointed  out,  and  alternative  lines 
of  demonstration  indicated.  It  is  very  desirable,  not- 
withstanding, that  the  book  so  used  should  have  as 
few  defects  as  possible.  The  principle  contended  for 
by  De  Morgan,  that  Euclid  is  the  best  book  for  beg^n- 


THE  MAXIM  ABUSED.  I45 

ners  because  of  its  defects,  is  not  merely  paradoxical 
but  positively  unsound.  It  proceeds  upon  the  admitted 
necessity  of  finding  some  exercises  for  the  pupils'  own 
powers,  in  teaching  a  science.  But  such  exercises  can 
be  obtained  apart  from  the  blunders  of  a  text-book  ; 
which  blunders,  being  unintended,  cannot,  except  by  the 
barest  accident,  answer  any  purpose  of  tuition. 

The  present  doctrine  is  abused  in  the  great  English 
schools  by  being  made  the  pretext  of  narrowing  the 
studies  to  the  old  traditional  classics,  as  against  the  ad- 
mixture of  science  and  modern  thought.  The  allegation 
is  that  two  or  three  subjects  well  taught — meaning  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Mathematics — do  more  good  than  six  or 
seven  less  well  taught,  although  these  may  include 
English,  Physics,  and  Chemistry.  The  same  narrow- 
ing tendency  is  repeated,  from  the  modern  side,  in 
the  demand  for  very  minute  and  practical  knowledge 
in  such  vast  and  absorbing  subjects  as  Chemistry,  Phy- 
siology, Zoology.  In  estimating  the  value  of  a  branch  of 
study,  we  must  consider  not  merely  what  it  gives  us,  but 
what,  through  engrossment  of  our  time,  it  deprives  us  of. 

The  miiltum  non  miilta  is  in  curious  conflict  with  the 
most  popular  current  definition  of  education — the  har- 
monious and  balanced  cultivation  of  all  the  faculties.^ 

•  There  is  much  force  in  the  following  observations  quoted  from  Mi. 
T.  Davison,  in  Mark  Pattison's  article  on  Oxford  Studies  in  Oxford  Essays, 
1855  :  '  A  man  who  has  been  trained  to  think  upon  one  subject,  or  for  one 
subject  only,  will  never  be  a  good  judge  in  that  one  ;  whereas  the  enlarge- 
ment of  his  circle  gives  him  increased  knowledge  and  power  in  a  rapidly 
increasing  ratio.  So  much  do  ideas  act,  not  as  solitary  units,  but  by 
grouping  and  combination  ;  and  so  clearly  do  all  the  things  that  fall 
within  the  proper  province  of  the  same  faculty  of  the  mind,  intertwine 
with  and  support  each  other.  Judgment  lives  as  it  were  by  comparison 
uid  discrimination.' 


CHAPTER   V. 

EDUCATION    VALUES. 

I  WILL  now  glance  at  the  leading  branches  of  human 
culture,  with  a  view  to  seize  the  characteristic  mental 
efficacy  of  each.  I  do  not  propose  to  take  up  every 
assignable  acquisition,  but  merely  those  things  that 
enter  into  the  ordinary  course  of  school  education. 
There  are  various  departments  of  valuable  training  that 
properly  come  under  individual  self-culture ;  such  are 
games,  arts,  and  accomplishments. 

The  carrying  out  of  our  design  involves  a  full  con- 
sideration of  the  two  leading  departments,  SCIENCE  and 
Language.  These  comprise  the  great  mass  of  human 
information  in  its  purest  types,  and  should  be  thoroughly 
appraised  before  entering  upon  mixed  subjects,  such  as 
Geography  and  History.  Fine  Art  will  be  touched  on, 
and  then  adjourned  to  a  chapter  apart.  The  mere 
purely  mechanical  acquirements,  as  Drawing  and 
Handicraft,  will  be  considered  only  in  their  subser- 
vience to  Intellectual  Education. 

THE  SCIENCES. 

Of  Science  generally  we  can  remark,  first,  that  it  is 
tlie  most  perfect  embodiment  of  Truth,  and  of  the  ways 


SECURITIES  FOR  TRUTH.  I47 

of  getting  at  Truth.  More  than  anything  else  does  it 
impress  the  mind  with  the  nature  of  Evidence,  with  the 
labour  and  precautions  necessary  to  prove  a  thing.  It 
is  the  grand  corrective  of  the  laxness  of  the  natural 
man  in  receiving  unaccredited  facts  and  conclusions.  It 
exemplifies  the  devices  for  establishing  a  fact,  or  a  law, 
under  every  variety  of  circumstances  ;  it  saps  the  credit 
of  everything  that  is  affirmed  without  being  properly 
attested. 

Before  the  birth  of  science,  and  in  minds  debarred 
from  scientific  training,  the  greatest  security  for  truth 
has  been  practice.  We  cannot  secure  any  practical  end 
in  this  world  without  observing  the  natural  conditions  ; 
we  must  estimate  the  force  of  a  current  in  order  to  build 
a  rampart  that  will  stand  ;  we  must  know  the  motives 
of  a  man  before  we  can  secure  his  services.  In  propor- 
tion to  our  regard  for  truth,  and  to  our  means  of  ascer- 
taining what  is  true,  is  our  power  over  the  material  and 
the  moral  world.  The  greatest  test  of  our  knowledge  is 
the  test  of  practical  fulfilment ;  this  is  the  scientific  man's 
test ;  so  that  the  man  of  practice  and  the  man  of  science 
have  this  much  in  common. 

The  defect  of  the  practical  man  is  the  limitation  of 
his  tests  to  his  own  sphere  of  working ;  he  seldom  learns 
to  extend  his  methods  into  other  spheres.  It  is  possible 
to  be  a  good  engineer  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  very 
prejudiced  judge  of  the  human  feelings.  An  accom- 
plished lawyer  is  not  necessarily  a*  good  administrator. 

The  second  great  liberalizing  feature  of  Science  is  its 
mode  of  setting  forth  general  or  generalized  knowledge ; 
the  antithesis  of  the  individual  and  the  general,  with  the 
gradations  of  generality  and  the  various  relations  of  cO' 


148  EDUCATION  VALUES  :— SCIENCE. 

ordination  and  subordination,  constituting  the  heart  and 
soul  of  method  in  grappling  with  multitudinous  and 
complicated  facts.  The  untrained  mind  confounds  ge- 
neral and  particular,  co-ordinate  and  subordinate,  in 
one  inextricable  jumble.  It  is  through  science  that  we 
take  the  best  grasp  of  the  method  of  unfolding  a  subject 
from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 

In  reviewing  the  Sciences  in  order,  we  may  divide 
those  relating  to  the  outer  world  under  three  groups : 
Mathematics,  as  representing  Abstract  and  Demonstra- 
tive Science ;  the  Experimental  Sciences — Physics, 
Chemistry,  and  Physiology ;  and  the  Sciences  of  Classi- 
fication, commonly  called  Natural  History.  The  Science 
of  Mind  will  be  taken  apart. 

The  Abstract  Sciences. 

Mathematics,  including  not  merely  Arithmetic, 
Algebra,  Geometry,  and  the  higher  Calculus,  but  also 
the  applied  Mathematics  of  Natural  Philosophy,  has  a 
marked  and  peculiar  method  or  character ;  it  is  by  pre- 
eminence deductive  or  demonstrative,  and  exhibits  in  a 
nearly  perfect  form  all  the  machinery  belonging  to  this 
mode  of  obtaining  truth.  Laying  down  a  very  small 
number  of  first  principles,  either  self-evident  or  requiring 
very  little  effort  to  prove  them,  it  evolves  a  vast  number 
of  deductive  truths  and  applications,  by  a  procedure  in 
the  highest  degree  mathematical  and  systematic.  Now, 
although  it  is  chiefly  in  the  one  domain  of  Quantity, 
that  this  machinery  has  its  fullest  scope,  yet,  as  in  every 
subject  that  the  mind  has  to  discuss,  there  is  a  frequent 
resort   to  the   deductive,  demonstrative,    or    downward 


THE  CHAINS  OF  DEMONSTRATION.  149 

procedure,  as  contrasted  with  the  direct  appeal  to  obser- 
vation, fact,  or  induction,  a  mathematical  training  is  a 
fitting  equipment  for  the  exercise  of  this  function.  The 
rigid  definition  of  all  leading  terms  and  notions  ;  the 
explicit  statement  of  all  the  first  principles  ;  the  onward 
march  by  successive  deductions,  each  one  reposing  on 
ground  already  secured  ;  no  begging  of  either  premisses 
or  conclusions  ;  no  surreptitious  admissions  ;  no  shifting 
of  ground  ;  no  vacillation  in  the  meanings  of  terms, — all 
this  is  implied  in  the  perfect  type  of  a  deductive  science. 
The  pupil  should  be  made  to  feel  that  he  has  accepted 
nothing  without  a  clear  and  demonstrative  reason  ;  to 
the  entire  exclusion  of  authority,  tradition,  prejudice,  or 
self-interest 

Such  is,  to  a  very  considerable  degree,  the  impression 
made  by  a  course  of  mathematical  instruction.  It  would 
be  made  in  a  still  higher  degree  if  the  science  were  more 
true  to  itself,  and  did  not  permit  a  certain  looseness 
of  treatment  in  the  Definitions,  and  still  more  in  the 
Axioms;  while,  in  the  demonstrations,  merely  verbal 
transitions  are  sometimes  given  as  steps  of  demonstra- 
tions. These  deficiencies  will,  in  time,  be  remedied,  and 
the  science  will  then  be,  what  it  scarcely  is  yet,  an  em- 
bodiment of  pure  Deduction. 

In  addition  to  this  general  view  of  Demonstrative 
Reasoning,  the  details  of  Mathematical  science  contri- 
bute some  of  the  most  valuable  materials  towards  the 
building  up  of  the  reasoning  powers. 

For  example,  it  is  here  that  we  begin  to  understand 
the  manner  of  handling  concurrent  elements.  We  have 
a  result  determined  by  two  or  three  factors,  and  we 
learn  to  compute  the  bearing  of  any  change  in  any  one 


1 50  EDUCATION   VALUES  : — SCIENCE. 

or  more  of  these  factors.  We  find  one  or  two  of  them 
remaining  unchanged,  and  yet  the  result  varies  because 
of  a  change  in  the  third  ;  we  see  how  all  may  change 
and  the  result  remain  constant,  from  the  changes  being 
such  as  to  neutralize  each  other,  and  so  on.  The  steady 
application  of  this  simple  process  to  the  more  compli- 
cated operations  of  nature  and  of  mind  distinguishes 
the  educated  intellect.  The  exercise  is  still  further 
carried  out  in  Mechanics,  in  connection  with  forces,  and 
is  thus  made  still  more  pointed  in  its  ulterior  applica- 
tions.' 

' '  Take  the  following  as  further  instances.  The  heat  of  any  given 
day  is  due  partly  to  the  position  of  the  sun,  corresponding  to  that  day, 
partly  to  atmospheric  causes,  of  which  the  chief  is  the  prevailing  wind. 
•When  a  course  is  set  in  motion,  and  acts  constantly  in  one  direc- 
tion with  a  steady  and  uniform  nisus,  its  operation  may  sometimes  be 
suppressed  by  an  overwhelming  opposition,  sometimes  repressed  and 
weakened,  though  not  quite  overborne,  by  impeding  and  retarding  forces. 
Thus  the  fear  of  punishment  is  a  cause  constantly  acting  in  the  same 
direction.  Its  tendency  is  always  to  deter ;  but  this  tendency  may  be 
counteracted  in  each  actual  case  by  a  variety  of  circumstances  which  some- 
times weaken  and  sometimes  nullify  its  operation.  Freedom  of  trade 
tends  constantly  to  facilitate  supply,  and  thus  to  produce  cheapness  ;  but 
in  considering  the  probability  of  this  effect  being  produced  in  any  individual 
case,  we  must  estimate  the  probability  of  such  events  as  deficient  harvests, 
difficulty  of  freight,  insecurity  arising  from  war  or  civil  commotions,  and 
the  like.  The  reduction  of  a  high  customs  duty  on  any  article  would 
naturally  tend  to  increase  its  importation ;  yet  a  change  in  the  public  taste, 
or  the  discovery  of  a  cheaper  or  preferable  substitute,  might  prove  an 
effectual  counteraction  to  this  tendency.' — Lewies  ^  Methods  of  Observation 
and  Reasoning  in  Politics,^  vol.  ii.,  p.  171. 

The  phrase  'caeteris  paribus'  (other  things  remaining  the  same)  is  a 
mathematical  coinage,  for  guarding  against  the  error  of  supposing  that  a 
course  will  produce  its  effect  under  all  circumstances  indiscriminately. 

In  Addison's  Essays  on  the  Pleasures  of  the  Imagination  there  is  a 
triple  conversation,  which  he  manages  thus  : — 'I  shall  first  consider  those 
pleasures  of  the  imagination  which  arise  from  the  actual  view  and  survey 
of  outward  objects  ;  and  these,  I  think,  all  proceed  from  the  sight  of  whal 


BEARINGS  OF   COMPOSITION   OF  FORCE.  151 

What  renders  a  problem  definite,  and  what  leaves  it 
indefinite,  may  be  best  understood  from  Mathematics. 
The  very  important  idea  of  solving  a  problem  within 

u  great,  uncommon,  or  beautiful.  There  may,  indeed,  be  something,  so 
terrible  or  offensive,  that  the  horror  or  loathsomeness  of  an  object  may 
overbear  the  pleasure  which  results  from  its  greatness,  novelty,  or  beauty  ; 
but  still  there  will  be  such  a  mixture  of  delight  in  the  very  disgust  it  givci 
us,  as  any  of  these  three  qualifications  are  most  conspicuous  and  prevailing.' 
This  is  a  slight  and  passing  testimony  to  the  principle  of  composite  forces. 
A  mind  trained  on  Pure  and  Applied  Mathematics  would  make  it  play 
a  leading  part  all  through  the  investigation. 

Take,  as  another  example,  the  complex  influences  that  enter  into 
Nationality,  as  expressed  by  J.  S.  Mill: — 'A  portion  of  mankind  maybe 
said  to  constitute  a  Nationality,  if  they  are  united  among  themselves  by 
common  sympathies,  which  do  not  exist  between  them  and  any  others — • 
which  make  them  co-operate  with  each  other  more  willingly  than  with 
other  people,  desire  to  be  under  the  same  government,  and  desire  that  it 
should  be  government  by  themselves,  or  a  portion  of  themselves,  exclu- 
sively. This  feeling  of  nationality  may  have  been  generated  by  various 
causes.  Sometimes  it  is  the  effect  of  identity  of  race  and  descent.  Com- 
munity of  language,  and  community  of  religion,  greatly  contribute  to  it. 
Geographical  limits  are  one  of  its  causes.  But  the  strongest  of  all  is 
identity  of  political  antecedents  ;  the  possession  of  a  national  history,  and 
consequent  community  of  recollections  ;  collective  pride  and  humiliation, 
pleasure  and  regret,  connected  with  the  same  incidents  in  the  past.  None 
of  these  circumstances,  however,  are  either  indispensable,  or  necessarily 
sufficient  by  themselves.*  For  handling  a  discussion  of  this  nature,  a 
knowledge  of  the  facts  is  not  enough  ;  there  must  be  also  a  firm  grasp  of 
the  conception  of  concurring  elements,  and  of  all  the  varying  results  that 
different  proportions  of  these  may  bring  about.  The  groundwork  of  this 
conception  is  best  and  soonest  got  at  by  a  discipline  in  the  Mathematical 
Sciences. 

In  laying  down  the  indications  of  depravity  in  men's  dispositions, 
Bentham  uses,  not  improperly,  the  forms  of  mathematics.  For  example  : 
'  The  strength  ^f  the  temptation  being  given,  the  mischievousness  of  the 
dii-position  manifested  by  the  enterprize,  is  as  the  apparent  mischievousness 
of  the  act.'  Or  again  :  'The  apparent  mischievousness  of  the  act  being 
given,  a  man's  disposition  is  the  more  depraved,  the  slighter  the  tempta- 
tion by  which  he  has  been  overcome.' 

Aristotle,  in  Book  I.  chap,  vii.  of  the  *  Rhetoric,'  compares  different 
'legrees  of  what  is  good,  and  makes  great  use  of  mathematical  forms. 
12 


152  EDUCATION  VALUES  :— SCIENCE. 

limits  of  error  is  an  element  of  rational  culture,  coming 
from  the  same  source.  The  art  of  totalizing  fluctuations 
by  curves  is  capable  of  being  carried,  in  conception,  far 
beyond  the  mathematical  domain,  where  i*  is  first  learnt. 
The  distinction  between  laws  and  co-efficients  applies  in 
every  department  of  causation.  The  theory  of  Probable 
Evidence  is  the  mathematical  contribution  to  Logic,  and 
is  of  paramount  importance.  The  remark  of  Gibbon 
was  very  loose,  that  mathematics  disqualifies  the  mind 
for  dealing  with  subjects  where  we  attain  only  pro- 
bability. 

All  this  supposes  Mathematics  in  its  aspect  of  train'- 
ing ;  01  as  providing  forms,  methods,  and  ideas  that 
enter  into  the  whole  mechanism  of  reasoning,  wherever 
that  takes  a  scientific  shape.  As  culture  imposed  upon 
everyone,  this  is  its  highest  justification.  But,  if  so, 
these  fruitful  ideas  should  be  made  prominent  in  the 
teaching ;  that  is  to  say,  the  teacher  should  be  fully 
conscious  of  their  all-penetrating  influence.  Moreover, 
he  should  keep  in  view  the  fact  that  nine-tenths  of 
pupils  derive  their  chief  benefit  from  these  ideas  and 
forms  of  thinking,  which  they  can  transfer  to  other 
regions  of  knowledge  ;  for  the  large  majority,  the  solu- 
tion of  problems  is  not  the  highest  end. 

In  the  point  of  view  of  information,  the  uses  of 
Mathematics  are  more  obvious ;  but  these  uses,  when 
carried  to  their  utmost  stretch,  suppose  special  profes- 
sions. For  people  generally,  facility  in  Arithmetical 
sums  is  very  desirable,  and  this  is  greatly  increased 
when  the  study  is  prolonged  into  the  higher  branches 
of  Algebra.  Geometry,  besides  its  uses  to  the  land 
surveyor,  engineer,  navigator,  and  many  others,  has  a 


WHAT  MATHEMATICS  DOES  NOT  DO.  1 53 

more  general  utility  in  enabling  one  readily  to  estimate 
forms,  distances,  situations,  and  configurations,  whether 
on  the  small  scale  or  the  great.  In  the  examples  of 
Arithmetical  and  Algebraical  operations,  much  valuable 
practical  knowledge  is  incidentally  obtained  ;  and  more 
might  be  done  to  turn  the  opportunity  to  account. 

Those  that  can  readily  master  the  difficulties  of 
Mathematics  find  a  considerable  charm  in  the  study, 
sometimes  amounting  to  fascination.  This  is  far  from 
universal ;  but  the  subject  contains  elements  of  strong 
interest  of  the  kind  that  constitutes  the  pleasures  of 
knowledge.  The  marvellous  devices  for  solving  prob- 
lems elate  the  mind  with  the  feeling  of  intelleptual 
power ;  and  the  innumerable  constructions  of  the  science 
leave  us  lost  in  wonder. 

There  are  advantages  claimed  for  Mathematics  that 
are  not  specially  confined  to  it.  For  example,  in  follow- 
ing out  a  long  demonstration,  the  power  of  sustained 
attention  is  necessary ;  but  there  are  fifty  things  besides 
Mathematics  that  need  this  power.  The  advantages 
above  set  forth  are  such  as  Mathematics  is  peculiarly 
fitted  to  give,  and  without  which  they  are  scarcely  ever 
attained  at  all.  In  so  far  as  the  physical  sciences  un- 
fold similar  advantages  the  way  is  paved  for  them  by 
Mathematics. 

To  this  short  sketch  of  what  Mathematics  does,  we 
should,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  append  what  it  does  not 
do,  and  must  be  left  undone,  if  we  stop  with  it.  It  does 
not  teach  us  how  to  observe,  how  to  generalize,  how  to 
classify.  It  does  not  teach  us  the  prime  art  of  Defining 
by  the  examination  of  particular  things.  It  guards  us 
against  some  of  the  snares  of  language,  but  not  all ;  it 


1 54  EDUCATION   VALUES  : — SCIENCE. 

is  no  aid  when  statements  and  arguments  are  perplexed 
by  verbiage,  contortions,  inversions,  or  ellipses.  It  is 
not  the  same  as  Syllogism  in  Logic,  and  is  not  in  any 
sense  a  substitute  for  Logic,  although  it  is  a  valuable 
adjunct.  The  too  exclusive  devotion  to  it  gives  a 
wrong  bias  of  mind  respecting  truth  generally;  and, 
historically,  it  has  introduced  serious  errors  into  philo- 
sophy and  general  thinking. 

The  Experimental  and  Inductive  Sciences. 

When  we  leave  Mathematics,  pure  and  applied,  in- 
cluding a  considerable  part  of  Natural  Philosophy,  we 
enter  the  domain  of  EXPERIMENTAL  and  INDUCTIVE 
Science,  throughout  the  whole  of  which  a  common 
character  prevails  in  all  that  regards  intellectual  disci- 
pline. The  experimental  branches  of  Physics  or  Natural 
Philosophy,  the  whole  of  Chemistry,  and  Physiology,  dis- 
play the  Experimental  and  Inductive  Methods  in  their 
purity. 

Throughout  this  wide  field  the  precautions  for  ar- 
riving at  truth  by  Observation  and  Experiment  attain 
their  highest  exemplary  force.  The  ascertaining  of  a 
solitary  fact,  which  the  untutored  mind  regards  lightly, 
is  in  these  sciences  regarded  as  a  serious  task.  To  find 
out  the  change  of  bulk  in  oxygen  gas,  when  converted 
into  ozone  by  the  electric  spark.  Dr.  Andrews  repeated 
one  experiment  several  hundreds  of  times. 

With  the  determining  of  facts  goes  the  process  of 
Inductive  Generalization,  of  which  these  departments 
afford  the  best  models.  It  is  in  this  school,  if  anywhere, 
that  the  natural  tendency  of  the  mind  to  over-generali> 


METHODS   OF   THE   PH\SICAL   SCIENCES.  1 55 

zation  is  corrected.  The  history  of  physical  discoveries 
is  a  perpetual  warning  against  generalizing  too  fast ;  and 
the  logic  ot  these  sciences  provides  the  texts  and  canons 
of  sound  procedure.  The  establishment  of  the  law  of 
gravitation  by  Newton  was  a  grand  lesson  in  the  gene- 
ralizing process.  The  difference  between  an  established 
induction  and  a  temporary  hypothesis  was  there  clearly 
exemplified,  and  will  not  be  forgotten.  It  is  from  the 
sphere  of  the  Physical  Sciences  that  Inductive  method 
has  been  transferred  to  other  subjects,  as  Mind,  Politics, 
History,  Medicine,  and  many  besides. 

In  the  same  field  we  are  taught  when  and  how  far 
empirical  and  limited  generalities  are  to  be  trusted. 
We  also  get  a  practical  exemplification  of  the  rules  of 
Probable  Evidence,  whose  foundations  are  laid  in  Ma- 
thematics. In  this,  as  in  other  points,  the  Physical 
Sciences  are  the  best  transition  from  the  abstract  for- 
mulas of  Mathematics,  with  their  demonstrative  cer- 
tainty, to  the  regions  of  probability,  as  exemplified  in 
human  affairs. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  lessons 
of  Method  imparted  through  the  physical  sciences.  It 
would  take  a  long  chapter  to  show  how  the  ideas  ob- 
tainable from  them  permeate  into  other  fields  of  know- 
ledge, as  was  exemplified  in  the  Mathematical  sciences. 

In  the  point  of  view  of  information  for  direct  use, 
the  three  subjects  under  consideration  are  by  empha- 
sis the  region  of  '  Useful  Knowledge.'  From  Physics, 
from  Chemistry,  from  Physiology,  flow  innumerable 
streams  of  fertilizing  information,  diffusing  themselves 
in  all  the  arts  and  conduct  of  life.  Not  only  are  they 
at  the  basis  of  many  special  crafts,  but  they  provide 


I  56  EDUCATION   VALUES  : — SCIENCE. 

guidance  to  every  human  being  in  endless  variety  of 
situations.  For  some  kinds  of  knowledge  we  can  trust 
to  a  skilled  adviser;  but  every  denizen  of  the  globe 
needs  perpetually  to  apply  physical,  chemical,  or  phy- 
siological laws,  in  circumstances  where  no  adviser  can 
be  near.  Still  more  is  the  occupier  of  a  tenement  in 
modern  civilized  life  dependent  on  a  ready  knowledge 
of  the  truths  in  these  departments. 

The  applications  of  Natural  Philosophy  to  all  our 
familiar  operations  are  very  apparent.  Among  our 
household  tools  are  levers,  pulleys,  inclined  planes,  and 
many  other  forms  of  solid  machinery.  We  have  to 
manage  windows,  grates,  bells,  clocks ;  we  have  to  con- 
sider adequacy  of  support  in  endless  forms.  We  have, 
in  the  circulation  of  water,  hydrostatic  and  hydraulic  prin- 
ciples to  carry  out.  We  have  gaseous  operations  in  the 
admission  and  the  egress  of  air,  in  warming  and  venti- 
lating, and  in  the  use  of  coal-gas  for  illumination.  The 
principles  of  heating  are  encountered  in  steam  tension 
and  the  explosion  of  boilers.  .It  is  not  enough  to  be 
able  to  call  in  workmen,  when  anything  is  deranged ;  we 
ought  ourselves  to  understand  the  operation  of  all  the 
forces,  so  as  to  take  the  right  precautions  at  every  mo- 
ment ;  and  this  we  may  do  partly  by  empirical  know- 
ledge, but  still  better  by  the  aid  of  scientific  principles. 

The  immediate  uses  of  Chemistry  are  perhaps  fewer 
in  number,  but  they  are  equally  important.  The  cor- 
roding effect  of  acids  and  of  alkalies,  the  solvent  action 
of  spirits  of  wine  and  of  oil  of  turpentine  for  varnished 
surfaces  that  are  unaffected  by  water,  the  protection  of 
dresses  and  of  furniture  from  dangerous  chemicals  used 
in  household  work,  as  well  as  many  things  connected 


USEFUL   KNOWLEDGE.  1 57 

with  washing,  with  cookery,  and  with  the  keeping  of 
household  stores, — involve  a  certain  amount  of  chemical 
knowledge. 

The  use  of  Physiology  in  the  preservation  of  the 
health  and  soundness  of  the  body,  gives  an  additional 
v.ilue  to  the  preparatory  Physics  and  Chemistry  without 
which  it  is  but  imperfectly  understood.  Although  the 
more  important  results  of  Physiology  are  embodied  in 
practical  measures  as  to  the  need  of  pure  air,  sufficient 
and  wholesome  food,  alternation  of  exercise  and  rest, 
the  dependence  of  the  mental  powers  on  bodily  condi- 
tions,— yet  these  great  maxims  are  scarcely  apprehended 
in  their  full  force  without  some  familiarity  with  physio- 
logical science.  Moreover,  although  nothing  less  than 
professional  medical  skill  suffices  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  derangements  of  the  body,  nevertheless,  the  co- 
operating intelligence  of  the  patient  is  of  the  greatest 
help  in  the  process  of  cure.  But  as  the  science  is  still 
imperfect,  even  in  the  best  hands,  we  must  not  exagge- 
rate its  powers.  What  it  does  is  sufficiently  important  to 
reward  the  study;  yet  to  say,  as  has  been  said,  that  it 
is  capable  of  prescribing  the  proper  moderation  of  the 
sexual  appetite,  is  to  claim  a  result  not  as  yet  attainable 
by  any  science. 

The  three  experimental  sciences  now  named  cover 
a  very  large  field  of  phenomena,  and  the  understand- 
ing of  them  enables  us  to  penetrate  into  many  of  the 
secret  workings  of  the  natural  world.  The  gratification 
of  enlightened  curiosity  affiarded  by  them  is  among 
our  first  class  pleasures ;  and  their  past  history,  with 
the  daily  record  of  their  advancement,  is  a  sensible 
contribution  to  the  occupation  of  the  mind  and  the  zesi 


158  EDUCATION   VALUES  : — SCIENCE. 

of  life.  The  intercourse  with  our  fellows  that  is  based 
on  the  giving  and  receiving  of  knowledge  is  the  least 
tainted  with  what  is  gross  and  grovelling. 


The  Sciences  of  Classification. 

The  third  great  scientific  region  is  what  is  commonly 
called  Natural  History,  represented  by  Mineralogy, 
Botany,  and  Zoology,  whose  peculiarity  is  to  create  a 
System  of  Classification  for  embracing  an  enor- 
mous detail  of  objects.  All  these  branches  have  their 
other  aspect  as  sciences  of  Observation,  Experiment, 
and  Induction;  they  are,  in  fact,  the  previous  sciences 
over  again,  but  accommodated  to  the  emergency  of 
putting  into  orderly  array  the  vast  multitude  of  mine- 
rals, plants,  and  animals. 

Now,  to  learn  to  classify  is  itself  an  education.  In 
these  Natural  History  branches,  the  art  has  been  of 
necessity  attended  to,  and  is  shown  in  the  highest  state 
of  advancement.  Botany  is  the  most  complete  in  its 
method;  which  is  one  of  the  recommendations  of  the 
science  in  early  education.  Mineralogy  and  Zoology 
have  greater  difficulties  to  contend  with  ;  so  that  where 
they  succeed,  their  success  is  all  the  greater. 

Much  of  the  subject  matter  of  the  sciences  of  Physics, 
Chemistry,  and  Physiology  is  agreeably  repeated  in  the 
descriptions  of  Natural  History:  a  mineral  is  given  as 
possessing  mathematical,  physical,  and  chemical  pro- 
perties ;  each  animal  possesses  anatomical  structure  and 
physiological  function. 

There  is  a  great  mass  of  useful  knowledge  mixed 
up  with  these  sciences,  although  perhaps  more  for  the 


NATURAL   HISTORY.  1 59 

special  arts  than  for  universal  application.  But  the 
interest  excited  by  the  concrete  detail  is  very  great ;  it 
is  the  easiest  of  all  forms  of  scientific  interest.  People 
can  be  got  to  study  and  collect  animals,  plants,  and 
minerals,  without  going  deep  into  the  physiological  and 
physical  laws.  Indeed,  the  maximum  of  interest  often 
attaches  to  the  minimum  of  science,  as  in  the  search  for 
plants ;  but  this  taste  is  both  something  in  itself,  and 
also  the  introduction  to  more  genuine  studies. 

In  the  discussions  of  the  present  day,  as  between 
creation  and  evolution,  a  knowledge  of  plant  and 
animal  structure  is  a  preparation  for  judging  of  the  ar- 
guments on  each  side.  The  enlarged  views  of  recent 
years  on  the  spread  of  vegetation  lend  a  high  cosmical 
interest  to  botanical  knowledge. 

Zoology  is  a  handmaid  to  Human  Anatomy  and 
Physiology,  on  which  must  ever  converge  the  highest  of 
all  utilities. 

Whoever  has  made  a  study  of  the  mother  sciences — 
Physics,  Chemistry,  and  Physiology — is  capable  of  en- 
tering upon  the  corresponding  Natural  History  sciences, 
although  no  single  mind  can  exhaust  the  detail  of  any 
one  of  them.  It  becomes,  therefore,  a  nice  point  of 
teaching  to  select  some  adequate  representative  particu- 
lars, so  as  not  to  waste  time  upon  an  interminable  region 
of  facts.  The  Method  should  be  thoroughly  conceived  ; 
for  in  all  studies  of  detail — Medicine,  Law,  Geography, 
History — that  will  be  found  to  operate  in  imparting  lucid 
arrangement.  Indeed,  clearness  in  style  and  composi- 
tion depends .  as  much  upon  the  arrangement  of  the 
ideas  as  upon  the  mode  of  expressing  them,  and  no  one 
subject  is  more  suggestive  ot  good  arrangement,  even  in 


l6o  EDUCATION  VALUES  : — SCIENCE. 

the  order  of  a  paragraph,  than  the  method  embodied  in 
the  Natural  History  sciences. 

From  the  Natural  History  sciences  we  might  pro- 
ceed to  the  consideration  of  Geography,  which  has  still 
more  of  the  characteristics  of  concreteness  and  compre- 
hensiveness. As  it  draws  contributions  from  nearly  every 
science,  it  seems  to  comprehend  them  all.  This  gives 
it  a  factitious  and  misleading  charm,  as  if  it  were  the 
grand  portal  to  the  sciences.  More  soberly  measured,  it 
contains  a  large  store  of  practical  information,  it  fills  the 
imagination  with  vast,  various,  and  interesting  views,  and 
it  is  the  essential  groundwork  of  the  study  of  history. 

The  Science  of  Mind. 

Of  the  fundamental  departments  of  knowledge,  I 
have  not  yet  spoken  of  the  MiND,  which  is  explained 
in  a  separate  science,  called  Mental  Science,  or  Psy- 
chology. 

It  is  generally  allowed  that  some  knowledge  of  the 
constitution  of  the  mind  is  desirable.  But  this  is  seldom 
sought  for  in  the  science  of  the  mind  ;  people  are  con- 
tent with  the  knowledge  that  comes  to  them  in  other 
forms  ;  as  in  personal  experience,  in  common  maxims, 
in  history,  oratory,  romance.  All  this  may  be  good  or 
bad  as  information,  but  it  is  nothing  at  all  as  method  or 
training.  In  point  of  fact,  much  of  it  is  incorrect  and 
wrong  ;  and  the  purpose  of  a  science  of  mind  is  to  rectify 
all  that. 

The  student  should  go  to  the  science  of  Mind  pre- 
pared by  the  discipline  and  the  information  gained  in 
the  previous  sciences,  more  especially  the  Mathematical 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  LOGIC.  l6l 

and  the  Experimental  groups.  If  pursued  on  this  basis, 
Psychology  will  superadd  a  discipline  of  its  own,  while 
extending  the  quantity  and  improving  the  quality  of  our 
mental  knowledge. 

Some  of  the  greatest  problems  that  can  occupy  the 
attention  of  mankind  are  grounded  in  the  human  con- 
stitution ;  and  the  scientific  handling  of  mind  has  been 
often  impeded  by  the  partisan  solutions  given  to  such 
questions  as  Absolute  Being,  Innate  Ideas,  the  Moral 
Sens6.  Unless  entire  impartiality  can  be  shown  in 
dealing  with  these  subtleties,  a  theory  of  the  mind  may 
darken  all  that  it  touches. 

The  subject  of  LOGiC  is  usually  associated  with  the 
Science  of  Mind,  although  it  has  an  independent  stand- 
ing of  its  own.  Logic,  in  the  enlarged  view  of  it  taken 
at  the  present  day,  is  a  suitable  accompaniment  of  a 
course  of  the  Sciences,  as  we  have  sketched  them.  It 
directs  attention  upon  the  points  of  Method  or  Dis- 
cipline in  each  science,  which  the  cultivator  is  apt  to 
neglect  in  his  zeal  for  the  matter  or  information  of  each. 
Even  with  Mathematics,  a  logical  commentary  is  de- 
sirable ;  it  is  no  less  useful  both  in  the  Inductive  and  in 
the  Classificatory  Sciences. 

The  foregoing  sketch  comprises  the  field  of  the 
theoretical  or  knowledge-giving  sciences,  those  that 
embrace  the  most  complete  and  systematic  view  of  all 
the  kingdoms  of  natural  phenomena.  They  both  pre- 
sent the  scientific  method  and  spirit  in  the  greatest 
perfection,  and  impart  the  greatest  amount  of  accurate 
information.     Whatever  scientific  culture  can  do,  is  done 


l62  EDUCATION   VALUES: — SCIENCE. 

by  the  curriculum  thus  laid  down.  Of  this  culture, 
perhaps  the  greatest  result  is  embraced  under  the  devo- 
tion to  Truth,  which,  allowing  for  human  infirmities, 
must  emerge  as  a  consequence  of  being  initiated  in  all 
the  devices  of  modern  research.  How  the  cultivation 
of  this  cardinal  virtue  tells  in  every  department  of  life 
need  not  be  here  insisted  on.  The  moral  disposition  to 
veracity  avails  little  without  the  tests  and  methods  of 
distinguishing  true  from  false,  while  men  well  versed 
in  these  seldom  quarrel  on  matters  of  fact,  seldom' keep 
up  irritating  controversies  as  to  what  is  or  is  not.  The 
disputes  of  the  scientifically  educated  are  narrowed  to 
some  very  special  and  difficult  issues. 

The  Analyzing  operation,  which  pervades  all  science, 
is  most  pointedly  opposed  to  the  crude  and  clumsy  pro- 
cedure of  the  untutored  mind,  which  insists  on  treating 
things  in  the  lump.  The  British  Constitution  is  a  vast 
mass  of  arrangements,  which  a  scientific  politician  views 
separately,  pointing  out  which  are  instrumental  to  our 
safety  and  happiness,  which  are  detrimental  and  need 
amending,  and  which  are  neutral  or  indifferent.  The 
vulgar  reasoner  will  speak  of  the  mass  only  as  one  in- 
divisible agent. 

The  bearings  of  Science  upon  Fine  Art  should  be 
properly  understood.  In  the  first  place.  Science  checks 
the  extravagant  departures  from  truth  in  Art,  and  is  thus 
a  medium  of  purifying  Art  productions.  This  is  a  great 
negative  result ;  for  it  is  an  undoubted  tendency  of  Art 
to  depart  from  truth  in  order  to  pander  more  fully  to 
ideality  and  illimitable  desire. 

In  the  next  place,  Science  discloses  new  facts,  new 


SCIENCE  AND   FINE  ART.  1 63 

laws,  new  views,  which  have  more  or  less  power  to 
interest  our  feehngs,  and  thus  become  materials  for  the 
artist.  Astronomical  discovery  has  furnished  many  new 
and  enlarged  conceptions  of  the  celestial  sphere,  tending 
to  nourish  the  sentiment  of  the  highest  sublime.  The 
terrestrial  forces  have  been  displayed  in  novel  and 
striking  aspects  through  the  physical  discoveries ;  and 
the  result  is  both  to  cultivate  poetry,  and  to  make 
science  itself  pof  tical. 

In  the  third  place,  it  is  not  to  be  concealed  that 
Science  and  Art  pursue  totally  different  lines,  even  to 
antagonism.  The  analyzing  operation  of  science  is 
at  variance  with  the  concreteness  of  poetry  ;  the  ab- 
stract, uncouth,  and  technical  expressions  that  grasp 
scientific  truth,  are  repugnant  to  the  artistic  tastes  ; 
the  check  interposed  to  poetic  ideality  by  the  severity 
of  scientific  truth,  is  an  abatement  of  our  artistic 
pleasures. 

Striking  a  balance  among  these  three  considerations, 
we  conclude  that  the  artist  should  have  a  certain  amount 
of  scientific  education,  as  a  prelude  to  his  art,  while  he 
is  not  to  be  expected  to  keep  his  mind  immersed  in  the 
scientific  ideas  and  forms  most  removed  from  aesthetic  cul- 
ture. Two  of  the  most  luxuriant  imaginative  minds  of  this 
century — Thomas  Chalmers  and  Thomas  Carlyle — were 
in  youth  good  mathematicians;  and  much  more  might 
a  man  of  artistic  mould  afford  to  drink  deep  in  the 
Inductive,  Classificatory,  and  Mental  Sciences. 

The  Practical  or  Applied  Sciences, 

In  these,  the  matter  of  the  Knowledge-giving 
sciences,  as  above  enumerated,  is  turned  to  account  in 


164  EDUCATION  VALUES: — SCIENCE. 

practice,  and  is  disposed  with  that  view.  In  the  prac- 
tical science  of  Mensuration,  the  propositions  of  Euclid, 
the  rules  of  Arithmetic,  and  the  formulae  of  Algebra,  ar« 
torn  from  their  context  in  a  Mathematical  system,  and 
exhibited  in  the  order  suited  to  the  questions  in  hand. 
In  such  sciences,  the  connected  form  of  science  is  absent 
the  information  imparted  is  much  less  compared  witxi 
the  bulk ;  the  needs  of  the  practical  man  are  alone 
considered.  The  practical  sciences  of  Navigation,  Ma- 
chinery, Engineering,  Metallurgy,  Agriculture,  Medicine 
and  Surgery,  War,  which  are  all  in  relation  to  Physical 
Science,  must  remain  as  the  special  acquisitions  of  pro- 
fessions or  crafts.  The  practical  departments  related 
to  the  Human  Mind,  as  Politics,  Ethics,  Law,  Grammar, 
and  Rhetoric,  are  of  more  widespread  interest ;  a  large 
portion  of  them  entering  into  general  education.  On 
these  a  few  remarks  may  be  made. 

And  first,  of  the  Sociological  group — including  Poli- 
tics, Political  Economy,  Legislation,  and  Law  or  Jurispru- 
dence. Politics  is  the  science  of  Government,  so  far  as 
regards  the  form  of  government — whether  Monarchcial, 
Aristocratic,  or  Republican.  It  is  in  close  alliance 
with  History,  whose  highest  aim  is  to  throw  light  upon 
the  constitution  and  workings  of  Government,  in  which 
lofty  aim  it  aspires  to  be  an  independent  branch  of 
study,  called  Historical  Philosophy,  or  the  Philosophy  of 
History.  This  subject  is  still  in  a  somewhat  unsettled 
state,  although  rapidly  tending  to  become  organized 
under  the  name  of  Sociology. 

Political  Economy  is  a  separate  department  of 
Political  Science,  concerning  itself  with  the  laws  that 
regulate  Industry  to  the  greatest  advantage.     Its  place 


LEGISLATION  AND  JURISPRUDENCE.  1 65 

in  Education  is,  therefore,  considered  very  high  among 
practical  sciences.  To  a  student  accustomed  to  scientific 
reasoning,  it  is  not  a  difficult  subject :  still  it  is  one  that 
needs  the  aids  of  public  teaching.  To  promote  an 
enlightened  opinion  in  matters  regarding  Trade,  all 
educated  persons  ought  to  know  something  of  this  de- 
partment ;  while,  in  the  operations  of  Government,  it  is 
imperatively  required.  It  lends  indirect  support  to  the 
moral  habits  of  industry,  justice,  and  veracity,  in  which 
character  it  oif^ht  to  be  universally  diffused ;  but  in  that 
case  the  teaching  should  be  so  conducted  as  to  make 
these  lessons  prominent.* 

Legislation  in  its  widest  sense  includes  all  the  opera- 
tions of  the  supreme  Legislature ;  but  a  portion  of  these 
relate  to  the  constitution  of  the  Government,  or  Politics 
in  the  narrowest  sense  ;  while  another  portion  comprises 
the  laws  relative  to  Industry,  as  grounded  in  Political 
Economy.  The  prevention  of  Crimes  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  Rights  constitute  a  large  department,  including 
Penal  Legislation  or  Punishments.  Legislation  also  de- 
termines all  the  relationships  of  Family  ;  the  conditions 
of  Service  ;  Pauperism  ;  Education  ;  the  relations  of  the 
State  to  Religion.  No  one  science  includes  the  whole 
of  these  topics. 

Law  or  Jurisprudence,  which  are  nearly  the  same 
thing,  is  a  limited  subject  connected  with  the /onn  and 
expression  of  the  Laws,  as  distinct  from  their  substance. 
It  teachers  how  laws  should  be  codified,  so  as  to  be  com- 
pact and  intelligible  ;  and  how  they  should  be  worded, 

'  Mr.  William  Ellis  has  long  distinguished  himself  in  this  applicatioo 
of  Political  knowledge.     See  his  Outlines  of  Social  Economy. 


1 66  EDUCATION   VALUES: — SCIENCE. 

SO  as  to  admit  of  exact  interpretation.  It  embraces 
Evidence  and  Procedure.^ 

Ethics  is  a  science  of  such  conflicting  views  that,  as 
far  as  concerns  its  foundations,  it  is  included  in  the 
higher  education,  being  usually  associated  with  Mental 
Science.  Its  preceptive  part  belongs  to  the  diffused 
knowledge  of  the  people,  and  is  inculcated  at  every 
stage  of  life,  making  up  what  is  called  Moral  Education. 

The  sciences  of  Language  are  Grammar,  Rhetoric, 
and  Philology  ;  the  two  first  have  for  tHeir  subject  the 
immediate  employment  of  speech  with  propriety  and 
effect ;  the  third,  General  Philology,  takes  a  higher 
speculative  sweep,  and  is  one  of  the  subjects  involved 
in  the  historical  evolution  of  the  race.  Each  Language 
has  its  own  Grammar,  which  is  taught  with  the  language. 
Rhetoric  lays  down  principles  applicable  to  all  languages, 

'  In  a  recent  address  by  Sir  James  Fitzjames  Stephen  a  claim  is  made 
for  Law,  as  a  branch  of  public  education  :  •  It  has  often  been  to  me  a  sub- 
ject of  great  surprise,  that  while  the  slightest  alteration  in  the  machinery 
by  which  laws  are  made  excites  intense  interest,  the  laws  themselves,  when 
they  are  made,  are  treated  not  as  a  subject  of  liberal  study  and  education, 
but  as  a  mystery  known  to  only  a  few  students,  and  incapable  of  being  com- 
municated to  the  world  at  large.  I  have  long  been  of  opinion  that  such 
subjects  as  the  criminal  law,  the  law  of  contracts,  and  the  law  of  wrongs 
are  in  themselves  quite  as  interesting  as  the  subject  of  political  economy  j 
and  I  think  that  if  the  law  were  thrown  into  an  intelligible  shape,  the 
result  would  r  ot  only  be  of  the  greatest  possible  public  convenience,  but 
would  constitute  a  new  branch  of  literature  and  of  public  education.' 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Law  is  a  most  valuable  discipline  in  many 
important  matters  connected  with  everyday  life.  It  tends  to  arrest  pre- 
cipitate conclusions  as  to  the  guilt  of  supposed  wrongdoers,  and  promotes 
justness  of  dealing  in  our  relations  with  others.  If  these  lessons  could  be 
extri:ated  from  the  load  of  details  necessary  to  the  professional  lawyer,  and 
presented  in  a  brief  compass,  they  would  deservedly  rank  as  a  liberalizing 
study. 

Bentham  considers  that  the  People  should  be  so  far  instructed  (in 
[x>litical  matters)  as  not  to  quarrel  with  their  own  interest. 


PRACTICAL   SCIENCES  NOT  DISCIPLINE.  1 6/ 

although  with  some  special  modifications  for  each ;  an 
inflected  and  uninflected  language  cannot  employ  the 
same  devices  of  arrangement  of  words  in  the  sentence. 

These  various  Practical  Sciences  have  no  purpose 
beyond  their  immediate  application.  None  of  them  can 
be  accounted  sciences  of  Method,  Discipline,  or  Training. 
The  opposite  view  is  held  by  many  with  reference  to 
Grammar  ;  and  the  arguments  will  be  afterwards  con- 
sidered. In  the  meantime,  we  lay  it  down  that  these 
sciences,  by  bfeing  exclusively  accommodated  to  their 
practical  objects,  do  not,  as  matter  of  course,  set  forth 
the  arts  and  devices  of  science  to  advantage ;  they  re- 
peat in  an  inferior  shape  what  is  best  given  in  the  funda- 
mental or  knowledge-giving  sciences.  As  branches  of 
practical  knowledge,  they  ought  to  be  exact  in  their 
statements  and  supported  by  adequate  proofs  ;  but  they 
do  not  lay  themselves  out  for  giving  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  evidence. 


LANGUAGES. 

We  now  turn  to  the  great  field  of  Language.  While 
the  Mother  Tongue  is  an  indispensable  acquisition,  an 
interest  also  attaches  to  the  Languages  of  other  nations, 
so  much  so  as  to  lead  to  the  including  of  these  in  our 
regular  course  of  Education. 

The  learning  of  a  Language  has  a  value  according 
to  the  use  that  we  are  to  make  of  it.  This  is  admitted. 
If  we  are  to  listen  to  French,  speak  French,  read  and 
write  French,  we  must  be  taught  the  language.  So, 
Latin  being  the  literary  medium  of  the  Middle  Ages,  had 
to  be  known  by  every  scholar.  But  if  we  are  not  to  use 
13 


1 58  EDUCATION  VALUES: — LANGUAGES. 

a  Language  at  all,  or  very  little,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
majority  cf  those  that  learn  Latin  and  Greek  at  school 
and  college,  is  there  any  other  reason  for  undergoing 
the  labour  ?  This  is  the  question  of  the  day,  as  to  the 
utility  of  the  Dead  Languages.  At  a  later  stage  I  will 
consider  the  arguments,  on  both  sides.  At  present  I 
intimate  my  view,  as  regards  the  learning  of  Languages, 
that  their  main,  if  not  their  sole,  justification  is  that  we 
mean  to  use  them  as  languages,  to  receive  and  to  impart 
knowledge  by  their  means.  This  does  not  exclude  the 
pleasure  that  we  may  take  in  the  poetical  compositions 
of  a  foreign  tongue. 

Language  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  series  of  vocables 
addressed  to  the  ear,  and  to  the  eye,  and  reproduced  by 
the  voice  and  the  hand  ;  and  these  have  to  be  associated 
with  the  objects  that  constitute  their  meaning:  a  very 
extensive  exercise  of  memory.  Equally  a  matter  of 
memory  is  the  customary  arrangements  of  words  and 
sentences  ;  although  at  this  point  the  practical  science 
of  Grammar  comes  into  play,  followed  up  by  another 
science—  Rhetoric.  These  sciences,  however,  are  of  value 
only  as  aids  to  the  knowledge  of  the  language ;  and,  if 
employed  upon  a  superfluous  language,  are  themselves 
superfluous.  It  is  true  that  Rhetoric  is  not  confined  to 
any  one  language ;  nearly  the  same  precepts  are  appli- 
cable to  all.  Yet  that  is  no  reason  for  connecting  it 
with  an  unused  language  ;  we  can  always  find  exercises 
in  the  languages  that  we  are  to  speak  or  to  write. 

Science  and  Language  embrace  between  them  the 
great  field  of  Intellectual  Education,  including  also  the 
higher  parts  of  the  education  in  professions  and  crafts. 


EARLY   MANUAL   TRAINING.  169 

They  do  not  comprehend,  unless  incidentally,  Mechanical 
Training,  the  Training  of  the  Senses,  Art  Training,  or 
Moral  Training.  The  two  last.  Art  and  Morality,  will 
receive  separate  chapters  ;  some  remarks  may  be  offered 
on  the  two  first  at  the  present  stage. 


MECHANICAL  TRAINING. 

Mechanical  Training  includes  the  command  of  the 
bodily  organs  for  all  the  ordinary  purposes  of  life,  and 
the  special  training  for  special  aptitudes.  The  child's 
spontaneous  education  furnishes  the  commencement ; 
imitation  and  instruction  follow.  Mechanical  training 
is  implied  in  writing  and  in  drawing,  which  are  a  part  of 
school  training ;  also  in  the  handling  of  tools,  and  the 
performance  of  operations  in  the  various  crafts ;  in 
household  work ;  and  in  active  amusements.  The  hand 
receives  a  special  training  in  playing  on  a  musical 
instrument.  Parallel  to  the  manual  training  is  the 
vocal  training  in  speaking  and  in  singing  ;  while  there  is 
a  training  in  gesture  for  elegant  deportment. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  idea  of  the  early  training  of 
children-  in  the  Kindergarten  to  push  them  forward  in 
the  manual  accomplishments,  that  is,  to  give  them 
the  early  use  of  their  hands.  Irrespective  of  special 
arts,  there  is  much  difference  between  one  person  and 
another  in  manual  facility,  as  applied  to  the  countless 
little  emergencies  of  life  ;  and  it  is  a  great  advantage  to 
have  good  hands.  Nevertheless,  this  is  not  a  matter 
for  the  public  teacher  to  spend  time  upon,  further  than 
is  required  for  other  purposes.  If  children  can  be 
interested    in  any   mechanical   employment,  they    will 


I/O  EDUCATION   VALUES  :— THE   SENSES. 

acquire  skill  in  it ;  but  there  is  an  error  in  allowing 
them  to  be  engrossed  in  the  lower  energies  of  the  mind 
to  the  neglect  of  the  higher. 


TRAINING  OF  THE   SENSES. 

The  Exercise  and  Training  of  the  SENSES  is  much 
insisted  on,  but  is  not  well  defined.  Here,  too,  there  is  a 
general  training  suited  to  all,  and  a  special  training  for 
special  arts.  To  train  any  one  of  the  Senses  is  to  in- 
crease its  natural  power  of  discrimination,  as  in  colours, 
tones,  touches,  odours,  tastes.  An  artist  in  colours  un- 
dergoes a  training  for  colour  discrimination  ;  a  musician 
and  an  elocutionist  possess  an  acquired  delicacy  of 
hearing ;  a  cook  has  a  training  in  the  palate.  This  is 
the  most  precise  meaning  of  the  Improvement  of  the 
Senses.  Out  of  this  superior  discrimination  will  grow  a 
better  memory  for  the  respective  sights  and  sounds  and 
tastes ;  so  that  the  conceptive  concrete  faculty  will  be 
strengthened  at  the  same  time. 

The  early  training  of  the  Senses,  as  usually  pre- 
scribed and  practised  with  Infants,  points  several 
different  ways.  There  may  be  an  augmented  discrimi- 
nation of  colour ;  also  of  visible  forms  and  visible 
magnitudes,  so  as  to  give  a  finer  sense  of  the  mag- 
nitudes and  properties  of  objects.  This  is  held  to  be 
a  preparation  for  at  least  three  different  accomplish- 
ments : — first,  correct  estimates  of  the  colours,  forms, 
and  sizes  of  things  at  sight ;  second,  the  arranging  of 
colours  and  forms  into  symmetrical  groups,  to  gratify 
the  art  sensibility;  thirdly,  the  understanding  of  the 
figures  of  geometry.     The  first  of  these  accomplishments 


MEANINGS  OF   SENSE  TRAINING.  171 

— namely,  the  accurate  estimate  of  colour,  form,  and 
size  by  the  eye — is  of  little  use  generally  ;  it  applies  to 
the  special  arts,  and  particularly  drawing  and  design, 
vith  which  it  is  necessarily  bound  up.  This,  too,  is  the 
meaning  of  the  second  accomplishment,  which  is  carried 
to  marvellous  lengths  in  the  Kindergarten  ;  the  children 
being  led  on  to  contrive  and  to  execute  elegant  symme- 
trical forms,  by  grouping  simpler  figures  in  innumerable 
ways.  This  should  not  be  called  Sense  Training ;  it  is  a 
special  education  in  Drawing  and  Design.  As  to  the  third 
end — the  preparation  for  Geometry — there  is  nothing 
to  show  that  this  needs  any  such  training  or  depends 
upon  it.  The  sense  foundations  of  Geometry  are  so  few 
and  simple  that  no  one  can  well  escape  them  ;  and 
the  science  speedily  and  peremptorily  demands  that  the 
senses  shall  give  place  to  the  constructive  reason.  A 
geometer  must  not  mistake  a  triangle  for  a  square,  or  a 
circle  for  an  ellipse,  but  he  docs  not  need  a  delicate 
visible  perception  of  the  exact  proportions  of  the  ellipse ; 
he  never  depends  upon  the  eye  for  a  measurement ;  he 
need  not  be  able  to  detect  by  sight  a  small  deviation 
from  the  perpendicular. 

The  utility  of  DRAWING  as  a  general  accomplish- 
ment must  not  be  overrated.  It  is  an  additional 
acquirement  of  the  hand,  and  for  special  purposes  is 
valuable  or  even  indispensable.  But,  as  a  foundation 
of  intellectual  training,  its  influence  is  liable  to  be  mis- 
taken. It  is  supposed  to  train  the  observing  powers, 
thus  helping  to  store  the  mind  with  the  knowledge  of 
visible  objects.  But  this  is  too  vague  to  be  correct. 
Drawing  compels  the  child  to  observe  just  what  is 
necessary  to  the  end  and  no  more  :  if  to  copy  another 


172  EDUCATION   VALUES: — DRAWING. 

drawing,  the  lines  of  that  must  be  carefully  noted  ;  if 
to  draw  from  nature,  the  form  and  perspective  of  the 
original  must  be  attended  to :  but  this  does  not  imply 
much  ;  it  does  not  involve  an  eye  for  outward  things 
generally  in  all  their  important  characters.  The  pupil 
does  not  necessarily  give  any  more  heed  to  the  things 
thai  he  does  not  intend  to  draw.  Observation,  in  its 
full  meaning,  is  not  a  matter  of  the  senses  purely ;  it 
consists  in  interpreting  indications,  by  applying  previous 
knowledge,  and  is  a  special  training  within  a  limited 
sphere.  Such  is  the  observation  of  the  Astronomer,  the 
Geologist,  or  the  Physician. 

When  Drawing  is  pursued  so  as  to  become  a  taste 
and  a  fascination,  it  is  too  engrossing  ;  it  disturbs  the 
balance  of  the  mind,  and  indisposes  for  other  tasks. 
Worst  of  all,  instead  of  leading  the  way  to  science,  liy 
assisting  to  stamp  on  the  understanding  the  pre-requisite 
assemblages  of  particulars,  it  resists  the  farther  advance 
from  particulars  to  generals,  and  it  clothes  the  particu- 
lars with  such  a  degree  of  concrete  interest,  that  the 
mind  prefers  to  remain  in  the  concrete.  A  moderate 
taste  and  aptitude  for  drawing  may  be  helpful  in  the 
more  concrete  sciences  ;  especially,  if  it  goes  no  farther 
than  drawing.  But  when  the  colour  interest  takes  a  deep 
hold  of  the  mind,  it  imparts  a  too  exclusively  pictorial 
character  to  the  intellect,  and  breeds  an  unfitness  for  the 
abstract  and  analytic  procedure  of  science. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SEQUENCE   OF  SUBJECTS— PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

The  long  chapter  on  the  Psychological  basis  of  Educa- 
tion leaves  one  point  untouched — the  Sequence  or  Suc- 
cession of  the  Powers  and  Faculties  of  the  Mind.  It  is 
important  for  us  to  grasp,  if  we  can,  not  merely  the 
leading  components  of  our  intellectual  structure,  but  also 
the  order  of  their  unfolding. 

If  we  could  suppose  the  brain,  at  birth,  to  possess 
all  the  physical  capabilities  of  our  brain  at  twenty-one, 
but  a  tabula  rasa  in  respect  of  impressions  of  every  sort, 
the  order  of  acquisition  would  be  the  strict  order  of  de- 
pendence of  one  thing  upon  another.  Simple  elementary 
impressions  would  come  first,  and  would  be  followed  up 
by  those  of  a  more  complex  kind  ;  the  concrete  would 
precede  the  abstract,  and  so  on.  Priority  of  study  would 
follow  a  very  plain  rule  ;  Analytical  or  Logical  sequence 
would  be  the  one  principle  of  Order.  The  actual  case, 
however,  is  very  different.' 

I  Anatomists  tell  us  that  the  brain  grows  with  great  rapidity  up  to 
seven  years  of  age ;  it  then  attains  an  average  weight  of  forty  ounces  (in 
the  male).  The  increase  is  much  slower  between  seven  and  fourteen,  when 
it  attains  forty-five  ounces ;  still  slower  from  fourteen  to  twenty,  when  it 
is  very  near  its  greatest  size.  Consequently,  of  the  more  difficult  intel- 
lectual exercises,  some  that  would  be  impossible  at  five  or  six  are  easy  at 
eight,  tmough  the  fact  of  brain-growth  alone.     This  is  consistent  with  all 


1/4      SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

The  fact  that  the  educator  works  upon  a  growing 
brain,  and  not  upon  a  completed  one,  does  not  invalidate 
the  law  of  logical  order  ;  it  only  imposes  another  set  of 

our  experience,  and  is  of  value  as  confirming  that  experience.  It  often 
happens  that  you  try  a  pupil  with  a  peculiar  subject  at  a  certain  age,  and 
you  entirely  fail ;  wait  a  year  or  two,  and  you  succeed,  and  that  without 
seemingly  having  done  anything  expressly  to  lead  up  to  the  point ;  although 
there  will  inevitably  be,  in  the  meantime,  some  sort  of  experience  that 
helps  to  pave  the  way.  In  regard  to  the  symbolical  and  abstract  subjects, 
as  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry,  and  grammar,  I  think  the  observation 
holds.  A  difference  of  two  or  three  years  will  do  everything  for  those 
subjects. 

This,  however,  is  but  one  aspect,  although  a  very  important  one,  of  the 
varying  rate  of  brain-growth.  If  we  follow  the  analogy  of  the  muscular 
system,  we  shall  conclude  that  the  times  of  rapid  growth  are  times  of  more 
special  susceptibility  to  the  bents  imparted  during  those  times.  If  the 
brain  is  still  unable  to  grapple  with  the  higher  elements,  it  is  making  great 
progress  with  the  lower ;  whatever  it  can  take  a  hold  of,  it  can  fix  and 
engrain  with  an  intensity  proportionate  to  its  rate  of  growth.  That  is  a 
good  reason  for  looking  well  to  the  sort  of  impressions  made  upon  the  child 
during  the  first  seven  years. 

It  would  be  a  great  contribution  to  our  subject,  if  we  could  fix  with  any 
degree  of  definiteness  the  variation  of  the  plastic  adhesiveness  of  the  brain 
through  life  ;  beginning  in  those  years  of  infancy  when  it  is  greatest,  and 
going  on  to  its  extreme  deficiency  in  old  age  ;  the  decrease  being,  I  should 
presume,  steady  after  some  year  between  six  and  ten.  But  the  determina- 
tion is  full  of  difficulty,  owing  to  the  number  of  collateral  circumstances 
that  obscure  the  main  fact. 

The  growth  of  the  brain  is  no  doubt  accompanied  by  the  perfecting  of 
a  number  of  innate  powers,  without  which  our  education  would  be  some- 
thing totally  different  from  what  it  is.  That  many  of  our  notions  of  the 
outer  world  have  the  way  prepared  for  them  by  hereditary  impressions,  or 
instincts,  is  a  received  doctrine  of  the  present  day.  How  far  this  is  so,  we 
cannot  precisely  estimate.  For  practical  purposes,  we  must  observe  the 
total  appearances  presented  us  in  the  growth  of  the  infant  mind  ;  we 
cannot  disentangle  what  depends  on  brain-growth,  with  hereditary  trans- 
mission, from  what  is  due  to  contact  with  the  actual  world.  We 
must  be  content  with  noticing,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  age  when  abstract 
notions  can  be  taken  in,  without  deciding  whether  the  growth  of  the 
brain,  or  the  accumulation  of  concrete  impressions,  is  the  principal  ante* 
cedent. 


THE  GROWING  MIND.  1/5 

conditions.  I  will  make  a  few  imaginary  suppositions 
by  way  of  illustrating  the  real  state  of  the  case. 

As  one  alternative,  the  immaturity  of  early  years 
might  amount  to  positive  defect  in  an  important 
sense  organ,  say  sight  or  hearing.  In  that  case  there 
would  be  a  blank  in  certain  impressions  that  are  indis- 
pensable as  an  ingredient  in  some  department  of  know- 
ledge. Imperfect  discrimination  of  colours  would  arrest 
the  knowledge  of  the  object  world  ;  while  a  want  of  the 
sense  of  form  would  be  still  more  fatal.  A  very  large 
part  of  our  education  would  thus  be  in  total  abeyance. 

Again,  the  sense  capabilities  might  exist,  but  in  such 
an  imperfect  degree  for  the  first  few  years,  that  it  would 
be  bad  economy  to  attempt  to  found  upon  them.  The 
natural  course  of  growth  might  be  such,  that  by  waiting 
a  year  or  two,  acquisitions  that  are  attended  with  diffi- 
culty at  an  early  stage,  could  then  be  accomplished 
with  ease. 

Thirdly,  there  might  be  intellectual  susceptibility  as 
regards  all  the  essential  properties  of  natural  things,  but 
a  want  of  the  vigour  of  intellectual  attention.  To  strain 
the  powers  at  this  stage  would  then  be  sheer  waste,  in 
consequence  of  interfering  with  the  physical  growth. 

Or,  lastly,  there  might  be  susceptibility  and  even  a 
certain  amoi,  nt  of  power  of  attention,  but  an  immaturity 
of  the  requisite  motives  and  interests.  The  feelings  and 
dispositions  might  be  for  a  time  alien  to  everything 
mtellectual,  being  engrossed  in  sense  pleasures  and 
excitements,  whose  results  as  regards  knowledge  could 
only  be  accidental,  random,  and  desultory — Imagination 
would  be  preferred  to  fact. 

These  four  suppositions  all  correspond  in  some  de* 


1/6      SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

gree  to  the  reality.  We  do  actually  postpone  the  com- 
mencement  of  many  studies  because  the  mind  at  an 
early  stage  cannot  entertain  even  their  most  elementary 
conceptions,  and  still  more  because  we  cannot  procure 
the  requisite  attention,  from  want  of  routine  and  per- 
sistence. We  do  not  in  this,  however,  exclude  all  re- 
ference to  the  analytic  or  logical  priority ;  inasmuch  as 
there  may  be  wanted  a  certain  spontaneous  absorption 
and  fixity  of  sense  impressions  before  any  training  ope- 
rations could  be  commenced. 

The  first  approximation  to  defining  the  order  of  the 
faculties  is  given  in  the  commonplace  remark  that  ob- 
servation precedes  reflection  ;  or,  in  another  form,  that 
the  concrete  comes  before  the  abstract ;  which  is  good  so 
far,  but  not  very  precise.  Another  maxim  is,  that  the 
Imagination  is  an  earlier  faculty  than  the  Reason  ;  this 
too  needs  qualifying. 

As  an  example  of  the  questions  to  be  settled  by  the 
present  enquiry,  I  may  refer  to  what  is  a  suitable  age 
for  commencing  study,  as  typified  by  learning  to  read. 
The  practice  and  the  opinion  on  this  head  show  a  wide 
disparity ;  the  range  is  from  three  years  old  to  seven. 
Further  questions  arise  with  respect  to  the  proper  times 
of  commencing  Languages  and  Sciences  respectively. 
On  this  head,  there  have  been  differences  of  view. 
Language,  being  chiefly  dependent  on  Memory,  would 
seem  to  come  early,  as  Memory  is  strong,  while  Reason 
or  Judgment  is  still  weak.  The  commencement  of 
Science  needs  not  merely  a  preparation  of  concrete  facts, 
but  an  advanced  form  of  interest  or  emotion,  and  a 
great  control  over  the  mental  attention,  which  is  a  late 
acquirement. 


EARLIEST  STEPS  IN   KNOWLEDGE.  1 77 

There  is  an  additional  point  of  nicety,  and  yet  of 
Importance,  namely,  to  assign  the  commencement  of 
self-conscious  or  subjective  knowledge — the  facts  of  the 
incorporeal  world  ;  many  of  which  have  to  be  taken 
for  granted  in  the  earliest  ipecies  of  composition  ad- 
dressed to  the  young. 

Let  us  first  survey  the  peculiarities  of  the  infant 
mind  ;  and,  in  so  doing,  we  shall  sketch  the  earliest 
steps  in  knowledge,  as  depending  on  those  peculia- 
rities : — 

Every  one  of  us  has  watched,  with  more  or  less  attention, 
the  mental  phases  of  human  beings  at  their  different  stages  of 
growth  ;  and  the  result  has  been  a  certain  vague  estimate  of  the 
changes  that  advancing  years  produce  upon  the  faculties.  But, 
in  proceeding  to  render  an  account  of  the  actual  sequence,  we 
are  met  at  once  with  the  difficulty  of  finding  terms  suitable  to 
describe  our  observations.  There  are  a  few  set  phrases  that 
are  regularly  brought  into  the  service.  The  child,  it  is  said, 
has  a  great  love  of  activity,  a  desire  to  be  occupied  somehow  j 
dislikes  continuous  application  or  attention  to  any  one  thing ;  is 
joyous,  mirthsome,  fond  of  fun  and  frolic ;  delights  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  senses,  and  in  sensation  generally;  is  curious  and 
inquisitive,  even  to  destructiveness ;  is  strongly  given  to  imita- 
tion ;  is  remarkably  credulous ;  is  imaginative  and  fond  of  dra- 
matizing ;  is  sociable  and  sympathetic.  On  the  more  exclusively 
intellectual  side,  the  child  is  prone  to  observation,  and  averse 
to  abstraction;  is  strong  in  memory,  and  weak  in  judgment 

To  reduce  these  observations  into  order,  we  must  bring 
them  under  the  usual  classification  of  mental  elements — Activi- 
ties, Senses,  Emotions,  and  Intellectual  Powers.  First,  then, 
as  to  Activity.  This  is  spontaneous  and  abundant,  but  fluc- 
tuating, uncertain,  and  indirect,  being  the  outpouring  and 
overflow  of  natural  energy.    Among  the  first  eftbrts  at  educa- 


178      SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

lion  is  the  attempt  to  give  it  useful  directions ;  but  the  readiest 
way  is  not  to  force  it,  but  to  take  it  at  the  moment  when  it  has 
fallen  into  a  good  course.  Second,  as  to  the  Senses.  These 
being  fresh,  and  _  everything  being  new,  sensation  as  such  is 
delightful  and  coveted ;  hence,  the  employment  of  the  senses, 
and  the  fruition  of  the  effects,  are  intense  in  infancy.  But, 
at  first,  the  emotional  side  preponderates,  and  the  intellectual 
side,  which  is  nourished  by  nice  distinctions,  does  not  attain 
an  early  development.  The  emotional  force  partly  paves  the 
way  for,  but  partly  obstructs,  the  intellectual.  Third,  the  Emo- 
tions, strictly  so  called,  as  distinguished  from  the  sense  enjoy- 
ments. These  are  mainly  the  strong  social  feelings — Love 
and  Affection  ;  the  strong  anti-social  feelings — Anger,  Egotism, 
Domination ;  together  with  the  workings  of  Fear.  All  are 
powerful  from  the  dawn  of  life ;  education,  while  connecting 
them  with  special  objects,  may  do  something  to  intensify  or  to 
enfeeble  their  total  force.  Fourth,  the  Intellect.  The  fun- 
damental tendencies  or  functions — Discrimination,  Discovery 
of  Agreements,  Retentiveness  or  Memory,  are  at  work  from  the 
first;  but  the  active  emotional  development  keeps  them  all 
down  at  the  outset,  although  doing  something  to  provide  mate- 
rials that  will  be  used  on  a  future  day.  The  operation  of  intellect 
is  requisite  to  such  complex  growths  as  curiosity,  imagination, 
dramatizing,  imitation,  and  fancy.  The  higher  workings  of 
intellect  become  necessary  even  to  the  observation  of  facts  in 
any  form  that  deserves  the  name. 

The  management  of  the  Activities,  the  Sense  Pleasures,  and 
the  Emotions,  makes  up  the  branch  of  education  called  Moral 
Education.  As  essential  forces  and  adjuncts  they  are  all  taken 
into  account  in  intellectual  education,  for  which  department, 
however,  the  principal  thread  must  follow  the  growth  or  se- 
quence of  the  intellectual  powers. 

The  beginnings  of  knowledge  are  In  activity  and  in  pleasure, 
but  the  culminating  point  is  in  the  power  of  attending  to  things 
in  themselves  indifferent.  The  successive  stages  of  the  process 
oiay  be  conceived  as  loUows : — 


ACTIVITY  AND   THE  SENSES.  1 79 

By  common  consent,  the  first  start  in  knowledge  is  made 
through  spontaneous  and  overflowing  activity  and  the  interest 
of  the  impressions  of  the  senses;  all  which,  in  the  pristine 
freshness,  afford  an  abounding  enjoyment.  At  this  stage,  many 
things  are  discriminated,  and  from  discrimination  all  knowledge 
beg.ns.  But  then  to  discriminate  is  not  aprimary  vocation  of 
the  infant  mind ;  enjoyment — immediate  and  incessant  — has  the 
precedence  of  all  other  objects.  In  the  presence  of  the  more 
enjoyable,  the  less  enjoyable  is  disregarded.  Observation, 
attention,  concentration,  lasts  so  long  as  enjoyment  lasts  and  no 
longer.  When  the  interest  in  anything  flags,  something  else  is 
sought  after.  If  the  pain  of  attention  is  greater  than  the  plea- 
surable excitement,  the  attention  is  withdrawn.  This  state  of 
things  is  so  far  favourable  to  knowledge;  a  good  many  objects 
ot  sense  are  surveyed  under  the  pressure  of  pleasing  attraction ; 
restless  activity  leads  to  many  changes  of  view,  and  the  search 
for  excitement  induces  a  repeated  survey  of  the  outward  scene. 
Moreover,  intensity  of  sensation,  whether  pleasing  or  not,  is  a 
power;  this  does  not  win  by  seductive  charm;  it  takes  the 
attention  by  storm.  Things  indifferent,  and  even  things  un- 
pleasing,  leave  their  impress  by  the  severity  of  the  shock  they 
give.  There  is  an  old  saying,  that  wonder  is  the  beginning  of 
philosophy.  Various  things  may  be  meant  by  wonder,  but  one 
thing  is  the  shock  of  mere  surprise  or  astonishment,  irrespective 
of  pleasure  imparted.  If  the  shock  is  painful,  the  mind  no 
doubt  rebels ;  it  perhaps  goes  off  in  search  of  some  sweet  obli- 
vious antidote ;  but  an  impression  has  been  made — an  element 
of  knowledge  is  secured. 

Before  discussing  the  transition  ^from  the  experiences  that 
impress  on  the  mind  what  is  pleasurable,  painful,  and  intense, 
to  the  hnpressing  of  those  things  that  in  themselves  are  indif- 
ferent and  insipid,  which  make  the  larger  part  of  our  knowledge 
in  the  long  run,  I  must  bring  up  the  side  of  activity  to  the  same 
point  as  the  side  of  passive  receptivity.  The  active  energies  in 
the  first  instance  follow  the  same  course  of  adhering  to  whal 


l8o      SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

gives  attraction  or  charm ;  at  all  events  they  do  not  lend  them- 
selves to  tasteless  effects.     The  moving  organs,  as  repeatedly 
observed,  begin  by  being  exercised  under  the  pressure  of  the 
active  centres,  their  exertion  being  determined  and  limited  by 
the  central  energy.    When  the  steam  is  expended,  the  action 
ceases.     A  certain  pleasure  goes  along  with  the  active  expen- 
diture, but  the  action  and  the  pleasure  cease  together,  when 
the  nervous  and  muscular  discharges  are  no  longer  maintained. 
Under  this  prompting,  the  movements  do  nothing  that  is  useful, 
except  by  accident ;  they  do  not  of  their  own  accord  fall  into 
any  of  those  combinations  that  sen^e  some  productive  end. 
No  doubt  they  are  preparing  for  such  combinations.     We  can- 
not suppose  that  the  child  moves  all  its  limbs  profusely  and 
variously  without  both  strengthening  them  individually,  and 
enlarging  their  compass  or  sweep ;  in  short,  bringing  them  up 
to  the  point  when  they  can  enter  into  groupings  for  useful  ends. 
I  am  not  here  inquiring  into  the  precise  limits  of  the  instinctive 
and  the  acquired  actions  of  childhood.     It  is  enough  to  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  the  first  useful  combinations  are  accidental ; 
the  discovery  of  their  use  is  the  cause  of  their  being  maintained, 
continued,  and  ultimately  fixed  into  habits  and  active  capabili- 
ties.    In  a  word,  pleasure  and  abatement  of  pain  are  the  first 
motives  to  acquirements  in  the  bodily  organs.     The  power  of 
the  hands  to  supply  wants,  cater  for  pleasures,  and  rebut  pains, 
is  the  earliest  manual  aptitude.     The  motions  of  head,  trunk, 
eyes,  mouth,  tongue,  all  come  into  the  like  service,  and  this  is 
their  earliest  stage  of  culture. 

Of  all  our  muscular  aptitudes,  the  most  illustrative  is  Arti- 
culate Language.  At  first  purely  spontaneous  and  emotional,  it 
lends  itself  very  speedily  to  our  desires  and  purposes,  and  in  that 
service  receives  the  commencement  of  its  cultivation.  The  tones 
U\at  demand  assistance,  that  express  satisfaction,  or  the  oppo- 
site, become  detached  from  mere  instinctive  promptings,  and 
pass  into  useful  instruments  of  the  various  moods  and  wishes 
of  the  infant.  Then  comes  the  child's  pleasure  from  hearing 
the  sound  of  its  own  voice ;  in  which  case  it  will  cling  by  pre 


ATTENTION   TO  THE  INDIFFERENT.  l8l 

ference  to  the  more  agreeable  tones  (according  to  its  standard 
at  the  time).  But  most  illustrative  for  our  purpose  is  the  early 
stage  of  imitation — the  stage  when  it  is  a  pleasure  to  reproduce 
the  sounds  made  by  others.  The  motive  here  is*  somewhat 
advanced  and  complex,  and  does  not  put  forth  all  its  power 
till  a  later  period;  but  it  exemplifies  that  primary  stage  when 
nothing  is  done  without  some  immediate  gratification.  The 
social  instincts  are  undoubtedly  very  early  in  their  appearance ; 
and  one  of  their  manifestations  is  the  interest  felt  in  personality 
as  such,  and  beyond  the  mere  utility  of  being  fed  and  attended 
to.  The  infant  soon  shows  a  degree  of  engrossment  with  per- 
sons that  transcends  the  supply  of  its  primary  wants,  although 
involving  these ;  and  this  interest  makes  the  charm  of  imitation. 
Having  given  voice  to  an  articulate  sound  heard  from  others, 
the  child  experiences  a  throb  of  delight  from  the  coincidence; 
and  such  pleasure  is  the  early  support  and  stimulus  of  imitation. 
It  adheres  to  us  nil  through,  and  is  one  of  the  teacher's  best 
aids.  Disgusted,  as  he  often  is,  to  have  to  cram  things  down 
the  throats  of  unwilling  subjects,  his  work  is  now  and  then 
lightened  by  the  operation  of  this  motive  to  imitate  and  repro- 
duce with  alacrity  his  own  special  aptitude  and  skill. 

To  come  now  to  the  second  stage  of  culture — the  acquisition 
of  the  Indifferent,  both  as  passive  impressions  and  as  active 
power.  We  cannot  be  too  thorough  in  our  study  of  this  critical 
transition ;  it  is  equalled  in  importance,  but  not  surpassed,  by 
one  other  transition,  namely,  from  the  Concrete  to  the  Abstract. 

To  escape  from  the  influence  of  pleasure  and  pain  as  mo- 
tives is  impossible.  To  fall  in  love  with  and  pursue  the  indif- 
ferent and  insipid  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  It  is  as  means  to 
ends  that  things  indifferent  in  themselves  can  command  atten- 
tion. We  may  have  the  capability  of  distinguishing  minute 
differences  in  the  lengths  of  two  rods,  in  the  weights  of  two  balls, 
in  the  curvatures  of  two  bent  bows,  in  the  shades  of  two  reds, 
in  the  pitches  of  two  notes— but  if  the  act  gives  no  pleasure, 
removes  no  pain,  excites  no  astonishment  or  violent  sensation, 


1 82      SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

we  decline  the  exercise.  By  the  first  law,  the  prime  condition, 
of  all  consciousness,  a  considerable  difference  has  an  awakening 
power,  something  of  the  nature  of  a  surprise,  and  it  leaves  an  ■ 
impression  which  becomes  an  item  of  knowledge.  A  sharp 
change  in  the  light  of  a  room,  a  sudden  rise  or  fall  in  the  inten- 
sit}  of  a  sound,  awakens  the  consciousness ;  and  the  more  delir 
cate  ihe  sense,  the  smaller  are  the  changes  that  impart  an 
arousing  shock.  This  is  the  length  that  we  can  go  in  impressing 
mental  differences.  But  I  apprehend  that  the  agency  of  dif- 
ference, as  an  awakening  or  a  shock,  is  very  far  short  of  our 
capability,  as  well  as  our  needs,  in  the  way  of  discrimination. 
Passing  from  one  room  to  another  ten  degrees  hotter  or  colder, 
we  are  aroused  to  the  difference  whether  we  will  or  not :  per- 
haps five  degrees  might  give  the  awakening ;  but  it  needs  the 
pressure  of  some  special  motives  to  attention  to  make  us  discri- 
minate (as  we  are  able  to  do)  a  transition  of  one  degree. 

One  of  the  first  indications  of  growing  intelligence,  of  the 
contracting  of  fixed  impressions  of  things  around,  is  the  dis- 
covery of  circumstances  attendant  on  what  gives  pleasure ;  events 
and  objects  that  precede  or  accompany  things  that  are  delight- 
ful in  themselves.  The  stimulus  to  attention  derived  from 
what  is  agreeable  operates  towards  these  accompaniments, 
which  are  thereby  discriminated,  marked,  and  impressed  on 
the  memory.  The  child  comes  to  know,  not  merely  its  food 
and  its  agreeables,  but  all  that  goes  along  with  them,  and  all 
the  prognostics  of  their  arrival  An  object  of  strong  intrinsic 
interest  irradiates  its  surrounding  sphere,  and  the  more  so 
as  the  impressions  of  outward  things  harden  and  become  co- 
herent In  this  way  great  additions  are  made  to  the  stock  of 
discriminated  and  remembered  objecrs ;  the  motive  being  still 
an  interested  one — the  access  of  pleasure  and  the  avoidance  of 
pain.  The  motives  continue  the  same,  but  they  are  intellec- 
tually extended.  The  wider  the  view  of  the  collaterals  of  our 
pleasures,  the  wider  is  the  influence  of  the  stimulus  to  attention 
and  discrimination.  A  very  faint  sound,  which  as  pleasure  is 
nothing,  as  a  shock  is  unheeded,  may  yet  betoken  the  arrival 


THE  SENSES  AT  WORK  ALWAYS.  1 83 

of  some  welcome  person  or  some  known  gratification,  and  as 
such  it  is  felt  and  noted.  Slight  may  be  the  distinction  to  ap- 
pearance between  the  cup  of  genial  slop,  and  the  cup  that  is 
doctored  with  extraneous  matters,  but  that  slight  distinction 
receives  an  indelible  stamp. 

But  now  we  must  add  another  consideration  that  leads  us  a 
little  further  mto  the  sphere  of  disinterested  attention.  In  the 
absence  of  any  strong  interest,  the  active  senses  cannot  help 
disporting  themselves  for  a  time  upon  what  they  can  get.  They 
will  not  remain  longer  over  a  dull  job  than  they  can  posiibly 
help ;  but  when  they  cannot  do  better,  they  will  take  up  with 
what  they  find.  These  intervals  between  the  stronger  excite- 
ments are  favourable  to  the  noticing  of  unattractive  objects  and 
smaller  distinctions.  The  child  at  first  is  stnick  perhaps  only 
with  a  glaring  colour — a  strong  red  or  blue,  or  a  mass  of  several 
shades,  which  it  receives  as  a  total  effect.  Should  familiarity 
blunt  the  interest  to  the  strong  effect,  in  the  absence  of  fresh 
attractions,  the  mind  may  re-occupy  itself  with  the  aggregate  of 
colour,  and  be  awakened  to  the  distinctions  of  the  shades.  To 
discover  a  difference  is  not,  in  early  years,  an  exciting  employ- 
ment; there  is  much  more  stimulus  in  the  discovery  of  agree- 
ments :  yet  the  exercise  of  the  mind  in  bringing  out  any  new 
effect  whatever  brings  a  reward  to  the  childish  sense  of  power. 
Tiie  moral  of  this  line  of  remark  is  against  pampering  and 
over-exciting  the  infant  mind.  What  is  the  vaunted  joyous- 
ness  of  children  if  it  does  not  mean  that  they  maintain  a  cheer- 
ful glow  on  few  stimulants ;  that  a  mild  interest  can  satisfy 
them,  and  leave  the  attention  free  to  scan  the  less  exciting 
features  of  the  scene,  so  as  to  gather  in  the  minuter  distinc- 
tions that  widen  the  basis  of  knowledge  ? 

So  far  we  have  regarded  the  child  as  self  prompted  and  self- 
acting,  and  have  endeavoured  to  trace  the  expansion  of  the 
hitellect  under  the  motives  that  we  suppose  to  be  at  work.  In 
passing  now  to  the  artificial  direction  of  the  attention  through 
the  influence  and  dictation  of  others — the  schooling,  properly 
30  called — we  have  the  same  motives  at  bottom,  with  a  change 
14 


1 84     SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECTS— PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

in  the  manner  of  applying  them  :  the  facilities  and  the  precau- 
tions are  still  the  same,  A  demand  is  now  made  that  attention 
shall  be  paid  to  a  class  of  distinctions  hitherto  overlooked  ;  to 
the  difference  between  two,  three,  and  four,  to  varieties  of  shades  of 
colour,  of  articulate  sounds ;  and,  at  last,  to  those  most  minute 
and  uninteresting  differences  between  the  visible  forms  called 
letters.  Not  immediate  or  mediate  pleasure,  not  startling  sur- 
prise, not  intrinsic  attraction  enough  for  the  dullest  of  vacant 
moments,  would  procure  attention  to  such  things,  and  far  less  a 
strenuous  attitude  of  concentration ;  and  there  is  no  force  avail- 
able but  the  sic  volo  of  the  superior.  What,  then,  on  general 
principles,  is  the  most  expedient  course,  in  order  to  be  as  mild, 
and  yet  as  effective,  as  possible  ?  In  the  first  place,  the  in- 
structor has  to  establish  his  or  her  influence  on  the  best  pos- 
sible foundations,  by  a  hold  on  the  child  that  dispenses  as  fai 
as  may  be  with  terrorism.  This  we  all  grant.  Then  the  natural 
workmgs,  as  manifested  in  the  prior  stage,  should  be  so  far 
attended  to,  that  self  sustaining  interests  should  be  awakened 
when  they  can.  This  too  is  granted.  Then  comes  the  stern 
conclusion  that  the  uninteresting  must  be  faced  at  last ;  that  by 
no  palliation  or  device  are  we  able  to  make  agreeable  every- 
thing that  has  to  be  mastered.  The  age  of  drudgery  must  com- 
mence ;  every  motive  that  can  avert  it  is  in  the  end  exhausted. 
What  then?  Try  to  measure  the  child's  power  to  support  the 
strain  of  forced  attention.  Use  this  power  to  the  full,  without 
abusing  it,  if  you  can  judge  the  happy  mean.  Begin  the  disci- 
pline of  life  by  inuring  gradually  to  uninviting,  to  repugnant 
and  severe  occupation ;  but  see  also  that  you  have  at  command 
the  alternative  of  relaxation  with  enjoyment. 

Let  us  now  advert  to  the  questions  growing  out  of 
the  order  or  development  of  the  Faculties. 

At  what  age  should  education  commence.''  We 
commence  too  early,  if  we  interfere  with  the  poweis 
needed  for  growth ;  and  even  supposing  this  does  not 
happen,  we  begin  too  early,  if  the  desired  impressions 


AGE  FOR  COMMENCING  EDUCATION.  1 85 

demand  much  greater  expenditure  than  would  be  neces- 
sary at  a  later  time.  On  the  other  hand,  we  commence 
too  late,  if  we  allow  time  to  pass  by,  when  good  and 
useful  impressions  could  be  made  with  perfect  safety  to 
the  general  health.  This  is  just  as  possible  a  case  as 
the  other. 

Nothing  but  observation  of  cases  will  avail  us  here. 
We  have  to  set  aside  the  instances  that  are  extreme 
either  in  vigour  or  in  weakness.  We  know  that  many 
have  begun  to  read  at  three  years  old,  and  have  grown 
up  perfectly  healthy  and  strong.  What  we  do  not  so 
well  know  is  whether,  by  beginning  at  four  or  five,  they 
would  not  have  been  as  far  advanced  at  fifteen  as  they 
are  in  the  earlier  commencement.  If,  however,  any 
considerable  number  of  children  have  begun  schooling 
between  three  and  four,  without  more  than  an  occasional 
instance  of  observed  mischief,  then  a  year  later  ought 
to  be  a  margin  of  safety  for  all  but  exceptional  cases. 
The  necessity  and  expediency  of  protracting  the  age  of 
commencing  till  six  or  seven  cannot  be  made  out.  There 
ought  to  be  proof  positive  that  in  such  belated  instances 
the  child  advances  with  a  rapidity  that  carries  all  be- 
fore it. 

At  what  time  should  we  begin  the  mechanical  train- 
ing of  the  hands,  the  training  of  the  voice,  the  training 
of  the  eyes  in  observing  forms  and  colours  ?  We  here 
proceed  upon  a  natural  spontaneity,  which  needs  directing 
and  coercing;  the  coercion  being  more  or  less  painful 
in  itself,  and  palatable  only  by  the  interest  evoked. 

A  further  question  relates  to  the  priority  of  different 
classes  of  acquisitions,  as  to  their  time  of  commencement; 
as  Language,  Knowledge  of  Things,  Mechanical  Apti- 


1 86     SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECTS— PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

tudes,  Moral  Impressions,  When  is  the  child  prepared 
to  take  up  these  several  departments  without  a  strain 
beyond  its  years  ?  In  all  the  kinds,  there  is  the  spon- 
taneous, or  self-moved  commencement,  followed  by  the 
gradual  attempt  to  direct  it  into  definite  channels.  The 
rule  seems  to  be  that  activity  is  always  prior  ;  and  accord- 
ing as  an  acquisition  has  an  active  element,  it  comes  in 
earlier,  regard  being  paid  to  the  state  of  advancement  of 
the  special  organs.  Language  (spoken)  seems  the  most 
precocious  of  all  acquirements  ;  being  usually  in  advance 
of  the  manual  capabilities. 

The  activity  of  the  eye  is  also  very  early,  and  the 
cognition  of  visible  movements,  magnitudes,  forms,  and 
of  all  the  space  relations,  proceeds  rapidly.  This  is  the 
stage  of  spontaneous  observation,  and  of  impressions  in 
the  concrete ;  and  is  the  necessary  grounding  for  the 
artificial  education  in  things.  The  pre-school  education 
consists  in  developing  the  articulate  capacity,  in  culti- 
vating an  interested  observation  of  surrounding  persons 
and  things,  and  in  connecting  names  with  these  various 
objects.  The  further  these  three  branches  have  gone, 
the  better  is  the  child  fitted  for  the  more  methodical 
instruction  of  the  school. 

The  next  point  to  be  considered  relates  to  the  age 
when  Memory  is  at  its  best,  and  when  acquisitions 
in  pure  memory  take  precedence  of  others.  This  applies 
to  the  problem  of  Languages  as  against  Science,  that  is, 
knowledge  more  or  less  generalized,  reasoned,  and  con- 
nected. Now,  it  seems  evident  that  for  the  years  be- 
tween six  and  ten  very  little  can  be  done  that  involves 
severe  processes  of  the  reason  ;  and  yet  the  mind  is 
highly  plastic  and  susceptible ;  so  that  presumably  this 


THE   LATER   ACQUIREMENTS.  1 87 

is  the  age  of  the  maximum  of  pure  memory,  as  typified 
by  Language  acquisitions,  not  merely  vocables  and  their 
connections  with  things,  but  connected  compositions,  as 
stories,  hymns,  and  the  expressed  forms  of  knowledge. 

The  easier  kinds  of  matter  of  fact,  where  generali- 
sation is  carried  merely  to  the  length  of  increasing  the 
interest  and  lightening  the  memory,  such  as  geographi- 
cal particulars  and  plain  narratives,  appeal  more  to  the 
memory  than  to  any  higher  power,  and  belong  to  the 
years  that  I  am  supposing. 

That  the  harder  sciences,  as  Grammar,  Arithmetic, 
and  Mechanics,  should  be  later  in  being  understood  is 
owing,  not  solely  to  the  necessity  of  pre-storing  the 
mind  with  instances  in  the  concrete,  but  also  to  a  defect 
in  the  power  of  compelling  the  attention  to  perform  the 
necessary  junctions  and  disjunctions  of  ideas ;  which 
power  must  be  dependent  upon  age,  in  the  first  instance, 
although  it  is  susceptible  of  being  forced  on  by  the  efforts 
of  the  teacher.  Usually,  however,  the  premature  bringing 
forward  of  these  subjects  ends  in  their  being  taken  up 
in  the  memory  alone,  which  can  be  induced  at  the  early 
age  to  embrace  even  unmeaning  statements.  At  the 
height  of  the  mental  plasticity,  which  may  be. from  seven 
to  eleven,  interest,  although  aiding,  is  not  essential ;  the 
consciousness  of  the  power  is  enough  to  make  it  not  a 
drudgery. 

It  is  customary  among  the  higher  ranks  of  society 
to  make  use  of  this  early  plasticity  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations of  foreign  languages,  as  French  and  German. 
This  is  so  far  good ;  but  one  can  easily  conceive  the 
practice  of  memory-stuffing  carried  too  far.  While 
using  the  moment  of  greatest  adhesiveness,  we  should 


1 88      SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS — PSYCHOLOGICAL. 

also  be  doing  something  to  bring  forward  the  reasoning 
power,  in  a  slow  and  gradual  way.  The  'Age of  Reason' 
should  on  no  account  be  thrown  back,  any  more  than 
it  should  be  precipitated.  The  faculties  should  not  be 
absorbed  by  huge  tasks  of  committal  to  memory  of 
mere  words ;  even  the  conceptive  power  of  embracing 
the  concrete  meanings  may  be  stifled  in  this  way,  and 
the  chances  of  the  reasoning  faculty  be  thus  doubly 
impaired. 

It  is  specially  interesting  to  view  this  plastic  moment 
with  reference  to  moralimpressions.  Commands,  maxims, 
verbal  directions  are  all  well  laid  up  in  the  memory ; 
even  the  more  difficult  doctrines  of  religion  may  find  a 
lifelong  lodgment  by  being  iterated  between  six  and 
ten.  All  this,  however,  is  external  to  conduct.  We 
must  look  at  the  dispositions  to  obedience,  the  culture 
of  the  affections  and  sympathies,  and  the  foresight  of 
remote  consequences.  Now,  as  regards  obedience,  the 
discipline  of  fear  may  do  much,  because  of  the  weakness 
and  susceptibility  of  the  subject.  The  other  elements 
are  more  difficult  to  command  ;  and  the  chief  question 
is,  whether  this  plastic  period  is  favourable  to  pleasurable 
associations,  assuming  that  the  child  is  well  supplied 
with  things  agreeable.  I  should  be  disposed  to  answer 
in  the  affirmative ;  remarking  only  that  this  is  a  very 
costly  acquisition,  and  may  not,  in  ordinary  cases,  make 
much  apparent  way  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years. 
These  associations,  however,  rest  on  the  same  basis  as 
the  moral  affections  and  sympathies. 

As  to  the  foresight  of  consequences,  that  is  a  very 
tardy  affair.  It  needs  a  high  development  of  the  conceiv- 


FORESIGHT  OF  CONSEQUENCES.  1 89 

ing  power,  together  with  a  class  of  associations  rendered 
very  difficult  by  the  strength  they  must  have  attained 
before  they  answer  their  purpose.  The  opposition  to 
encounter  in  the  furious  impulses  of  those  early  yeai??  sa 
the  measure  of  the  strength  of  this  assoclatioiu 


CHAPTER   VII. 

SEQUENCE   OF  SUBJECTS— LOGICAL. 

The  previous  chapter  is  intended  to  clear  the  problem 
relating  to  sequence  by  allowing  for  the  development 
of  the  powers  and  faculties  irrespective  of  the  impres- 
sions that  are  received.  We  must  now  view  the  order 
of  the  impressions  themselves,  according  to  their  logical 
dependence. 

Thus,  take  the  case  of  Language.  The  sequence 
consists  (i)  in  the  articulation  of  syllables,  (2)  in  form- 
ing syllables  into  words,  and  (3)  in  uniting  words  into 
consecutive  speech.  So,  with  our  conceptions  of  the  con- 
crete world,  there  is  the  same  plain  course :  we  proceed 
from  elementary  forms,  colours,  objects,  views,  to  binary, 
ternary,  and  higher  combinations  of  these.  There  is  no 
break,  or  abrupt  transition,  at  any  one  point.  In  the 
mechanical  arts  it  is  the  same.  Our  state  of  develop- 
ment settles  the  time  for  beginning;  when  once  begun 
the  course  follows  the  law  of  analytic  progress.  There 
may  be  an  error  committed  in  trying  to  go  too  fast ; 
which  simply  means  that  we  are  taking  a  new  step  with- 
out having  matured  the  one  previous  ;  the  remedy  is  ob- 
vious, it  is  not  to  wait  on  faculty  but  to  ply  exercises. 

In  machinery  we  proceed  from  the  constituent  parts 
to  tlie  whole.      So,  the  Anatomist,   in  describing   the 


CONCRETE  TO  ABSTRACT.  191 

human    body,  commences  with  the  bony  foundations, 
and  then  goes  on  to  the  muscles,  viscera,  &c. 

If  there  be  any  exception  to  this  steady  progress,  it 
is  to  be  found  in  the  momentous  transition  from  the 
concrete  to  the  abstract,  from  the  particular  to  the 
general.  It  is  partly  true  that  by  the  preparation  cf 
particulars  we  advance  to  generals,  but  there  is  not  the 
same  imperceptible  transition,  or  unbroken  continuity,  as 
in  proceeding  from  syllables  to  words,  from  a  tree  to  a 
wood,  from  an  easy  air  to  one  slightly  more  difficult. 
There  is  a  certain  jump  in  passing  out  of  the  life  in 
particulars  to  the  life  in  generalities ;  we  feel  ourselves 
taken  up  into  a  new  sphere ;  we  are  called  upon  to 
exercise  a  new  kind  of  faculty. 

For  this  novel  effect  there  must  be  a  distinct  phase 
of  brain-development,  and,  therefore,  a  certain  age  at- 
tained, irrespective  of  the  amount  of  preparatory  im- 
pressions. The  law  of  logical  sequence  merely  includes 
the  fact,  that  the  concrete  must  precede  and  the  abstract 
follow  :  there  is,  however,  much  else  to  be  considered. 
Seeing  that  a  vast  compass  of  educational  method  and 
procedure  is  regulated  by  the  transition,  its  minute  con- 
ditions and  circumstances  need  to  be  unfolded  once  for 
all. 

We  may  and  do  proceed  with  the  classing  operation, 
from  the  very  first,  and  without  break  or  interruption. 
The  child  discriminates  and  identifies ;  when  it  has 
identified  a  number  of  things  of  the  same  kind — chains, 
spoons,  fires,  dogs,  human  beings — it  has  formed  classes ; 
it  has  attained  generality  together  with  particularity. 
Yet  these  classings  do   not   amount   to  Abstractions, 


192  SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

They  do  not  proceed  far  enough  to  bring  out  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  generalizing  operations.  Many  classes  are 
formed  that  are  but  one  stage  removed  from  the  particu- 
lars :  water,  food,  toys,  lights,  trees,  horses  ;  over  all  the 
region  of  experience  these  short  leaps  are  made  from 
an  early  period  ;  while  there  is  little  progress  anywhere 
towards  the  higher  flights. 

It  is  for  such  ulterior  flights  that  a  certain  maturity 
of  mind  is  needful ;  a  particular  moment  of  advancing 
strength,  when  the  conceptions  can  be  carried  to  the  se- 
cond and  higher  degrees  of  generality.  This  is  the  stage 
when  we  must  be  prepared  to  handle  symbols,  to  pass 
from  sense  perceptions  to  abstract  conceptions ;  when 
we  can  manipulate  numbers  and  forms,  having  no  ap- 
parent reference  to  particulars  at  all. 

Without  much  prompting,  the  child  goes  on  accu- 
mulating classes  of  the  first  degree,  and  would  go  on  to 
the  end  of  life  in  the  same  course.  It  is  only  by  ex- 
press teaching  that  it  climbs  to  the  higher  degrees-  to 
take  cognizance  of  a  piece  of  furniture,  a  tool,  a  quad- 
ruped, a  sum,  a  sensation,  a  society  ;  and  a  very  large 
part  of  teaching  is  occupied  with  this  work.  It  comes 
up  in  season  and  out  of  season  ;  and  the  teacher's 
resources  should  always  be  equal  to  it  ;  and  at  any  rate 
he  should  know  whether  or  not  it  is  within  his  compe- 
tence at  the  time.  He  cannot  be  too  well  informed  as  to 
the  conditions  of  success  in  explaining  and  impressing  a 
generality.  Indeed,  this  is  the  central  fact  or  essence  of 
Exposition,  properly  so  called. 

It  is,  I  repeat,  universally  admitted  that,  for  a  General 
or  Abstract  Notion,  the  essential  preparation  is  the  Par- 
ticulars.    But  a  great  deal  has  to  be  taken  into  account 


THE  ABSTRACT  NOTION.  I93 

besides  this  obvious  fact.  The  mere  presence  of  the 
particulars  does  not  suffice  to  evoke  the  generality.  The 
number  and  the  character  of  these  must  also  be  taken 
into  the  account :  they  may  be  too  few,  or  they  may  be 
too  many ;  they  may  even  have  the  effect  of  obstructing 
tlie  growth  of  the  general  idea. 

I.  In  regard  to  the  Selection  of  Particulars.  This 
must  be  such  as  to  show  all  the  extreme  varieties. 
Identical  instances  are  not  to  be  accumulated  ;  they 
merely  burden  the  mind :  varying  instances  are  necessary 
to  show  the  quality  under  every  combination.  To  bring 
home  the  abstract  property  of  Roundness,  or  the  circle, 
we  must  present  concrete  examples  in  varying  size, 
colour,  material,  situation,  and  circumstances.  To  ex- 
plain a  Building,  we  must  cite  instances  of  buildings  for 
all  kinds  of  uses. 

The  best  instances  to  begin  with  are  those  that 
show  the  main  idea  in  prominence,  and  the  adjuncts  in 
abeyance.  We  cannot  command  a  circle  in  the  abstract, 
as  Plato  imagined  ;  and  we  cannot  present  one  in  the 
concrete  without  size ;  but  we  can  reduce  the  material 
to  a  thin  black  line  on  a  white  ground.  Two  or  three 
such  of  different  sizes,  with  one  made  of  white  on  black 
ground,  and  one  in  some  other  colour,  would  eliminate 
everything  but  the  single  fact  of  form ;  this  is  as  near  to 
abstracting  the  property  as  the  case  admits  of.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  had  proceeded  from  examples  where 
the  adjuncts  are  overpowering  or  interesting  in  them- 
selves, attention  would  not  have  been  gained  to  the 
form.  The  sun  at  noonday,  the  horizon  viewed  at  sea, 
the  circle  at  Stonehenge, — would  be  a  very  unsuitable 
selection  for  teaching  the  notion  ;  although  after  it  is 


194  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

Otherwise  gained,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  discerning  it 
in  these  instances. 

2.  The  Placing  of  the  instances  should  be  such  as  to 
bring  out  the  agreements.  If  the  objects  are  material 
they  should  be  similarly  and  symmetrically  situated  to 
the  eye.  The  comparison  of  numbers,  as  three,  four, 
five,  should  be  in  rows  side  by  side  to  begin  with.-  Cones 
and  pyramids  are  shown  to  the  eye  resting  regularly  on 
their  base.  Vegetable  and  animal  forms  are  symmetri- 
cally placed  for  comparison.  This  is  the  method  required 
alike  for  agreement  and  for  difference. 

In  verbally  described  facts,  the  parallelism  of  the 
forms  of  language  is  a  well-known  device  of  rhetoric. 

3.  The  Accumulation  should  be  continuous,  until  the 
effect  is  produced.  When  we  are  bent  upon  driving 
home  a  new  generality,  we  should  put  everything  else 
aside  for  the  time  ;  we  should  suffer  no  interruptions  or 
distraction.  We  are  to  accumulate  instances  of  the 
proper  kind,  and  in  the  best  order,  until  all  disparities 
are  sunk  beneath  the  pressure  of  the  agreement.  The 
Theban  Phalanx  is  the  type  of  exposition  for  the  gene- 
ral notion  or  abstract  idea  ;  an  overwhelming  concentra- 
tion at  one  point. 

Many  of  our  abstractions  are  gained  by  scattered 
impressions,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little.  This  is  our 
chance  education,  which,  if  least  effective,  is  no  doubt 
least  fatiguing.  Whatever  is  gathered  in  this  way  is  to 
be  accepted  ;  but  the  schoolmaster  is  not  to  repeat  the 
desultory  circumstance  in  an  express  lesson.  When  he 
enters  upon  an  exposition,  his  business  is  to  make  it 
continuous  and  thorough.  If  the  pupils  are  ripe  for 
comprehending   the  notion   of    Inertness,   a  series   of 


PARTICULARS  AND  CONTRAST.  I95 

examples  should  be  arranged  to  make  the  general  fact 
patent  in  spite  of  all  disparities  of  accompanying  cir- 
cumstances. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  bring  all  the  instances 
to  bear  upon  the  discovery  of  agreement  Any  instance 
that  is  perplexing  in  itself  will  interrupt  the  general 
harmony.  Still  more  will  an  instance  that  has  a  strong 
individual  interest  be  an  obstacle  to  the  general  im- 
pression. This  is  not  sufficiently  considered  in  exposi- 
tion. Very  interesting  examples  are  sought  with  a  view 
to  engage  the  attention ;  they  may  succeed,  but  not  in 
the  way  desired.  Instead  of  leading  the  mind  on  to  the 
abstract  idea,  they  induce  it  to  cling  to  themselves  in 
their  concrete  or  individual  character.^ 

Contrast  is  an  ever  ready  resource,  and  shortens  the 
labour  by  excluding  at  once  the  notions  liable  to  be 
confounded  with  what  is  meant.  To  drive  home  the 
idea  of  a  circle  we  place  beside  it  an  oval.  Along  with 
groups  of  objects  intended  to  give  the  abstract  number 
four,  we  place  a  group  of  three  and  a  group  of  five. 
White  and  Black  are  shown  together.  To  explain  more 
fully  what  luxury  means,  we  adduce  examples  of  sim- 
plicity and  plainness  of  manners.  The  habit  of  assign- 
ing contrasts  or  opposites  needs  to  co -exist  in  the  mind 

'  In  Macaulay's  brilliant  speeches  on  the  Reform  Bill,  he  urged,  with 
unrivalled  affluence  of  illustration,  the  growth  and  expansion  of  Great 
Britain,  as  necessitating  changes  in  our  institutions.  His  examples  are 
numerous  and  telling,  but  also  occasionally  so  gorgeous  as  to  distract  the 
mind  from  the  general  purpose  by  creating  an  interest  for  themselves. 
'  ^Vho  can  say  that  a  hundred  years  hence  there  may  not  be,  on  the  shore 
of  some  desolate  and  silent  bay  of  the  Hebrides,  another  Liverpool,  with 
its  docks  and  warehouses  and  endless  forests  of  masts  ?  Who  can  say  that 
the  huge  chimneys  of  another  Manchester  may  not  rise  in  the  wilds  of 
Connemara  ? ' 


196  SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

of  every  instructor  with  the  habit  of  quoting  examples 
or  particulars. 

4.  The  natural  inability  to  take  interest  in  generali- 
ties, and  the  preference  felt  for  the  individual  concrete, 
being  the  great' obstructions  to  attaining  general  notions, 
we  should  clearly  comprehend  the  counter  forces  in 
their  favour.  These  are — first,  the  Flash  of  Agree- 
ment. 

When  among  things  that  have  formerly  been  re- 
garded as  distinct,  there  is  a  sudden  flash  of  agreement, 
the  mind  is  arrested  and  pleased ;  and"  the  discovery 
makes  one  great  element  of  intellectual  interest,  not 
only  reconciling  us  to  the  general  and  the  abstract,  but, 
in  the  higher  instances,  imparting  a  positive  charm.  The 
disparity  of  the  instances,  and  the  previous  labour  of 
the  mind  in  keeping  hold  of  them,  contribute  to  the 
elation  of  the  discovery. 

5.  The  other  mode  of  overcoming  the  reluctance  to 
pass  from  the  interest  of  individuality  to  abstract  no- 
tions, is  the  tracing  of  Cause  and  Effect  in  the  world. 
The  notion  of  cause  and  effect,  the  crowning  notion 
of  science,  is  one  of  the  first  to  dawn  upon  the  infant 
mind.  The  simplest  movements  are  attended  with 
discernible  consequences :  the  fall  of  a  chair  with  a 
noise ;  the  taking  of  food  with  gratification.  These 
instances  are  the  beginnings  of  the  knowledge  of  causes  ; 
and  they  are  viewed  correctly  from  the  first.  Now  when 
any  agent  produces  an  apparent  change  or  effect,  it 
operates  by  only  one  of  the  many  properties  that  it 
possesses  as  a  concrete  object.  A  chair  has  form  to  the 
eye,  resistance  to  the  hand,  noise  to  the  ear ;  and  as 
these  effects  are  seen  in  their  separate  workings,  they 


FINAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  GENERAL  NOTION.   I97 

lead  on  to  analysis  or  abstraction  of  the  properties 
causing  them.  It  is  by  the  separation  of  effects  that 
we  come,  in  the  first  instance,  to  know  weight  as  a  pro- 
perty of  things,  and  are  able  to  regard  the  weight  of  a 
chair  as  a  distinct  property,  owned  in  common  with  other 
objects.  But  for  this  experimenting  on  effects,  we  might 
not  so  soon  or  so  readily  depart  from  the  collective  in- 
dividuality of  things.  The  child  knows  what  a  seat  in 
general  is,  by  sitting  first  in  its  own  chair  and  then 
on  other  chairs  or  on  foot- stools  ;  by  this  experience  it 
works  its  way  to  a  notion  of  considerable  generality. 

6.  For  retaining  a  generality  in  the  mind,  the  best 
way  is  to  possess  a  good  represefttation  of  particular  in- 
stances. It  depends  on  the  character  of  the  notion 
whether  few  or  many  are  wanted.  Very  few  are  needed 
for  a  simple  form — for  weight,  liquidity,  transparency. 
For  a  metal,  a  plant,  a  tree,  a  bird,  an  article  of  food,  a 
force,  a  society — a  good  many  are  wanted. 

7.  It  is  assumed  throughout  that  the  name  is  given 
along  with  the  general  notion  ;  to  this,  at  the  proper 
time,  is  added  the  Definition,  which  co-operates  with  the 
representative  particulars  in  giving  the  mind  a  hold  on 
the  notion.  The  definition  assigns  some  simpler  notions, 
supposed  to  be  already  possessed ;  and  it  succeeds  accord- 
ing as  this  supposition  is  correct.  Thus  then  we  have, 
as  regards  the  circle,  for  example,  (i)  the  representa- 
tive instances,  (2)  the  name  ;  (3/  the  words  of  Euclid's 
definition.  The  cluster  so  made  up  is  our  fully  equipped 
notion  of  the  circle. 

In  cases  where  a  notion  is  formed  out  of  other  no- 
tions already  grasped,  the  definition  is  a  full  and  suffic- 
ing  explanation,  dispensing  with  its   own   particulars 


T98  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS— LOGICAL. 

This  happens  in  Mathematics,  when  the  mind  is  so  well 
advanced  as  to  be  familiar  with  the  elementary  notions 
of  number,  equality,  line,  angle,  plane,  curve.  It  is  a 
mere  waste  of  time  to  dwell,  at  this  stage,  upon  par- 
ticular examples  of  triangle,  square,  polygon,  circle, 
sphere. 

In  the  ordinary  course  of  miscellaneous  teaching,  a 
mixture  of  the  two  methods  is  unconsciously  followed. 
A  teacher  in  explaining  '  kingdom  '  would  both  adduce 
individual  kingdoms,  as  England,  Germany,  &c.,  and 
also  define  by  language  a  kingdom  as  a  people  living  to-  . 
gether  under  one  king.  Most  usually,  perhaps,  the  defi- 
nition is  given  first,  and  the  particulars  afterwards  as 
examples.  A  river  is  defined — 'a  stream  of  water 
gathered  by  numerous  rills  from  the  high  grounds  and 
collected  into  one  channel  by  which  it  flows  to  the 
sea.'  The  examples  brought  forward  would  explain  the 
different  parts  of  the  definition. 

So  much  for  the  great  transition  from  the  Concrete  to 
the  Abstract.  The  Analytical  or  Logical  Sequence  of 
teaching  comprises  the  following  distinct  heads  : — 

First,  and  most  obvious  of  all — from  the  Simple  to 
the  Complex. 

Second — from  the  Particular  to  the  General  and 
Abstract. 

These  two  must  be  regarded  as  fundamental,  and 
almost  exhaustive.  There  are,  however,  several  im- 
portant aspects  of  them  that  deserve  to  be  signalized 
as  if  they  were  distinct  cases. 

Third — from  the  Indefinite  to  the  Definite,  or  per 
Viaps  better,  from  the  Unqualified  to  the  Qualified. 


HEADS   OF  LOGICAL  SEQUENCE.  199 

We  may  be  told  a  fact,  in  the  first  instance,  in  a 
vague,  indefinite,  unqualified  form,  as  that  all  bodies 
fall  to  the  ground :  our  next  step  is  to  learn  it  in  its  cir- 
cumstantials and  qualifications — the  oblique  descent 
of  water  in  rivers,  the  rise  of  smoke,  the  belching  up  of 
volcanoes.  The  pupil  in  Astronomy  is  first  told  that  the 
Sun  is  at  rest  in  the  centre  of  the  system,  while  the 
planets  move  round  it  in  circles.  At  a  later  stage,  the 
circle  is  changed  into  an  ellipse,  with  the  sun  in  one 
of  the  foci.  Then,  the  exact  centre  is  shown  to  be  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  sun  and  all  the  planets.  The 
withholding  of  important  qualifications  at  the  early 
stages  is  an  accommodation  to  the  pupil's  capacity ;  it 
can  hardly  be  avoided,  yet  it  needs  management  so  as 
not  to  instil  untruth. 

Fourth — from  the  Empirical  to  the  Rational  or 
Scientific.  This  is  really  a  mode  of  the  transition  from 
the  Concrete  to  the  Abstract ;  yet  it  deserves  an  explicit 
consideration  ;  it  marks  with  emphasis  the  arrival  of  the 
'  Age  of  Reason.' 

Empirical  knowledge  is  good  and  sufficient  for  many 
of  the  purposes  of  knowledge  ;  it  may  be  all  that  is  to 
be  got  on  a  given  subject  at  any  one  time.  Yet,  seeing 
that  much  of  our  knowledge  in  the  present  day  has 
attained  the  rank  of  scientific  explanation,  the  pupil  has 
ultimately  to  be  put  in  possession  of  this  higher  form  ; 
although,  for  a  time,  he  may  have  to  dwell  in  the  loAver 
region  of  the  empirical.  We  first  know  day  and  night, 
summer  and  winter,  the  rise  of  the  tides,  the  snow  upon 
the  tops  of  mountains,  the  falling  of  dew,  the  occurrence 
of  storms,  the  dependence  of  vegetation  on  heat  and  on 
moisture, — as  empirical.     Our  knowledge  in  this  form 

15 


200  SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

may  be  on  the  whole  very  correct ;  our  forefathers  had 
nothing  better  to  go  by.  And,  in  the  empirical  character, 
it  suits  an  earlier  stage  of  our  education;  we  can  under- 
stand a  fact,  as  a  fact,  when  we  are  incapable  of  com- 
prehending the  reason.  Hence  this  is  put  down  as  one 
of  the  sequences  or  transitions  in  our  progress.  Neverthe- 
less, it  is  essentially  the  transition  from  the  concrete  to  the 
abstract :  the  reason  of  a  tJiing  is  but  a  higher  generality, 
into  which  it  is  resolved  :  the  reason  of  the  fall  of  bodies 
is  universal  gravitation ;  of  combustion,  chemical  union. 

If  anyone  were  to  arrive  at  the  maturity  of  intelli- 
gence, while  still  ignorant  of  a  whole  department  of 
natural  facts,  such  as  Geology,  the  commencing  with 
the  empirical  statement  would  be  unnecessary.  The 
concrete  facts,  in  that  case,  might  be  given  as  scientific 
deductions  from  the  laws,  instead  of  being  learnt  in  a 
provisional  or  passing  shape.  This  method  has  its  ad- 
vantages. Many  a  one  never  knows  the  simplest  pro- 
perties of  the  triangle,  parallelogram,  or  circle,  until  they 
are  learnt  in  a  course  of  geometry. 

Fifth.  In  the  culture  of  the  power  of  Conceiving, 
the  analytical  order  needs  to  be  strictly  followed.  We 
must  be  familiar  with  the  constituent  colours  and  forms 
before  we  can  conceive  a  new  combination  of  them.  We 
must  know  a  marble  surface  and  the  cylindrical  form, 
in  order  to  conceive  a  marble  cylinder.  We  must  have 
seen  numerous  carriage-wheels,  and  have  acquired  the 
impression  of  gold,  before  we  can  conceive  a  gold  wheel. 

Sixth.  We  proceed  from  Outline  to  Details.  This 
is  the  great  maxim  of  the  describing  art,  as  in  Geo- 
graphy.  It  applies  to  History  also,  although  with  a 
qualificatioa 


MERELY  APPARENT   SEQUENCE.  20I 

Seventh.  As  a  general  rule,  we  proceed  from  the 
Corporeal  to  the  Incorporeal,  from  the  Physical  to  the 
'  Mental.  The  physical  world  is  soonest  understood  ;  yet 
from  the  very  beginning  we  have  some  knowledge  of 
the  mental  world;  we  learn  to  mark  our  own  pleasurable 
and  painful  sensations,  to  enter  into  the  pleasures  and 
pains  and  passions  of  those  about  us.  Our  earliest 
literary  interest  supposes  this  power ;  it  is  the  basis  of 
sensation  narrati\-e. 

Such  are  the  leading  circumstances  implied  in 
logical  or  analytical  sequence ;  and  if  they  could  be 
followed  strictly,  the  jtnarch  of  education  would  be  clear. 
The  reality  is  far  otherwise.  Many  obstacles  inter- 
vene, and  it  is  well  that  we  should  be  aware  of  these, 
that  we  may  see  how  to  evade  or  overcome  them  when 
possible. 

To  clear  the  way,  we  need  to  mark  certain  cases 
where  Sequence  does  not  necessarily  apply. 

I.  The  existence  of  Correlatives  must  be  allowed 
for.  Correlatives  must  be  known  together ;  and  al- 
though one  is  stated  in  advance  of  the  other,  the  in- 
tended impression  is  not  made  till  both  are  received. 
The  strongest  instance  of  this  is  the  correlation  of 
the  Particulars  and  the  General.  One  must  be  first,  but 
both  must  concur  before  we  have  the  meaning.  The 
General  is  not  understood  without  the  Particulars ; 
the  Particulars  are  nothing  until  they  yield  up  the 
General.  It  is  supposed  that  the  Particulars  must  ne- 
cessarily precede :  this  is  not  essential ;  the  generals  may 
precede,  and  be  held  in  suspense  until  the  particulars 
are  given.     The  order  does  not  depend  upon  the  fact 


202  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS— LOGICAL. 

of  correlation ;  for  neither  term  is  intelligible  without 
the  other  ;  the  meaning  is  a  mutual  embrace  of  two 
factors.  It  is  true  that  the  mind  must  have  a  certain 
familiarity  with  concrete  things  before  rising  to  the 
stage  of  generalities  and  abstractions  ;  but,  at  that  stage, 
the  things  are  not  known  as  particulars  fitting  into  a 
notion  or  a  general  law.  They  are  known  in  some 
different  way,  and  have  to  be  directed  to  the  new  pur- 
pose. The  child  knows  weights,  but  does  not  know 
them  as  examples  of  general  gravity;  does  not  see 
through  them  to  Newton's  law  of  gravitation.  When 
this  law  comes  to  be  taught,  the  particulars  must  be 
adduced  on  one  side,  and  the  general  expression  on  the 
other,  and,  by  the  happy  coalescence  of  the  two,  the  law 
of  gravity  becomes  apparent.  But  whether  the  in- 
stances should  be  given  first,  or  the  formulae  first  and 
the  instances  afterwards,  is  not  always  fixed.  It  may 
be  the  shortest  way  of  teaching  in  many  subjects  to 
give  the  generality  first  and  the  instances  next ;  the 
effect  being  suspended  till  both  have  come  together. 
If  the  generality  is  not  cumbrous  or  prolix ;  if  it  does 
not  involve  a  long  series  of  abstract  phrases,  unillumi- 
nated  by  particulars; — then,  the  best  course  might  be  to 
deposit  it  in  the  memory,  for  a  little  time,  as  an  unmean- 
ing formula,  to  be  forthwith  irradiated  by  the  examples. 
In  this  way,  the  examples  themselves  are  net  kept  wait- 
ing ;  the  generality  is  already  there,  and  they  have  to 
fall  in  under  it. 

In  the  description  of  visible  objects.  Size,  Form,  and 
Colour  must  be  given,  but  there  is  no  natural  priority. 
The  mind  usually  waits  till  it  learns  them  all.  *A  black 
ball,  a  foot  in  diameter,'  presents  the  three  elements  in 


CORRELATIVES.  203 

the  order — colour,  form,  size ;  which  is  as  good  as  any 
other  order,  but  not  better. 

In  the  various  notions  relating  to  Society,  we  have 
the  same  correlations,  the  same  suspense  of  meaning 
till  the  correlations  are  adduced.  A  State  implicates 
Ruler  and  Subject ;  neither  is  understood  until  both 
are  explained.     The  order  is  immaterial. 

In  the  Physical  Sciences,  also,  mutuality  of  action 
is  the  rule.  In  the  communication  of  force  there  are 
always  two  parties,  the  giver  and  the  receiver,  and  one 
must  be  mentioned  first ;  yet  until  the  other  is  also  men- 
tioned, the  fact  is  not  complete. 

Thus,  then,  provision  must  be  made  in  the  expository 
arts  for  bringing  together  correlatives  in  the  way  best 
suited  to  the  several  cases.  The  case  is  no  real  excep- 
tion to  the  law  of  logical  sequence. 

2.  The  mixing  of  notions  of  different  degrees  of  ad- 
vancement and  difficulty,  is  a  thing  that  cannot  always  be 
avoided.  An  explanation  should  contain  only  matters 
already  understood  ;  but  fully  to  adhere  to  this  in  the 
early  stages  is  next  to  impossible.  There  must  be  mental 
blanks  corresponding  to  many  of  the  names  presented 
to  the  young  mind ;  sometimes,  to  a  degree  fatal  to  the 
understanding  of  what  is  brought  forward ;  sometimes, 
permitting  of  a  partial  understanding,  enough  to  be  a 
stepping-stone  to  something  farther,  and  in  time  to  the 
complete  knowledge  of  what  is  at  present  incompletely 
known.  Although  unavoidable,  this  is  still  an  evil ;  and 
should  be  kept  within  the  narrowest  possible  limits. 
Until  all  subjects  can  be  composed  on  one  level  of 
intelligibility,  and  every  subject  have  its  proper  order 
in  the  line  of  studies ;  and  until  no  pupil  be  ever  in- 


204  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

trodnced  to  the  higher  without  sufficient  mastery  of 
the  lower,  there  will  be  these  blank  spots  in  the  minds 
of  learners ;  the  intellectual  comprehension  will  be  ar- 
rested every  now  and  then  from  the  want  of  some  essen- 
tial piece  of  knowledge. 

In  all  subjects  there  must  come  up  at  the  threshold 
names  that  cannot  be  adequately  understood  until  the 
pupil  has  made  some  progress.  A  vague  provisional  sur- 
mise is  the  only  thing  possible  ;  perhaps  the  whole  field 
of  view  is  darkened  in  the  meantime ;  and  yet  it  may  be 
competent  to  go  forward  with  simply  glimpses  of  mean- 
ing. Partly  by  proceeding,  in  spite  of  defective  insight, 
partly  by  going  back  to  a  fresh  start,  the  various  notions 
come  to  one  another's  aid  ;  what  was  dark  grows  clear. 

It  is  in  scientific  or  rational  explanation,  that  is  to 
say,  science,  properly  so  called,  that  the  breach  of  se- 
quence is  most  felt.  When  we  are  gathering  in  promis- 
cuous facts,  objects,  impressions,  without  any  attempt 
to  explain,  class,  or  reconcile  them,  we  are  not  bound  to 
any  order.  Whether  we  see  a  waterfall  or  a  windmill 
first  does  not  signify.  So  when  our  education  consists 
chiefly  in  learning  names,  there  is  little  that  can  be 
called  sequence.  Further,  between  one  story  and  another 
story,  one  poem  and  another  poem,  there  may  be  no 
priority  assignable. 

As  a  great  part  of  early  teaching  is  avowedly  desul- 
tory, empirical,  matter-of-fact,  preparatory, — the  order 
of  presentation  seems  of  little  moment.  The  preference 
is  determined  by  opportunity,  and  by  the  awakened  in- 
terest of  the  pupils.  Objects  are  impressed  in  the  mind 
at  the  time  when  they  are  advantageously  brought 
forward,  whether  in  school  or  out  of  school.     But  the 


MIXTURE  OF   UNEQUAL   STAGES.  20$ 

teacher  should  thoroughly  understand  the  level  that  he 
is  working  at ;  he  should  not  obtrude  the  connecting 
doctrines  that  make  the  knowledge  scientific.  The  mo- 
ment he  aims  at  this,  his  situation  is  entirely  altered ; 
he  must  now  chalk  out  a  scientific  scheme  and  follow 
it  in  rigid  order. 

Stories,  poetry,  histories,  descriptions  of  travels,  of 
places,  of  animals,  are  very  mixed  in  their  nature ;  the 
less  intelligible  and  the  more  intelligible  go  side  by  side. 
The  child  picks  up  the  crumbs  of  meaning  and  of  interest 
that  suit  its  advancement,  and  leaves  the  rest.  There  is 
no  reason,  however,  why  the  effort  should  not  be  made 
to  keep  the  whole  composition  to  one  level. 

3.  The  gratification  of  the  feelings  interferes  at  this 
point,  as  at  so  many  others.  There  may  be  enough  in 
a  composition  to  give  pleasure,  without  its  being  under- 
stood. The  mere  form  of  poetry,  the  jingle  of  verse, 
has  this  effect :  the  melody  of  the  words  concurring.  So 
there  may  be  touches  that  bring  out  emotion,  on  a 
slender  basis  of  understanding.  Poetry  serves  this 
end  ;  likewise  the  unction  of  religious  and  moral  senti- 
ments. 

4.  Impatience  to  advance  to  matters  of  interest  may 
make  us  hurry  over  intermediate  and  preparatory  mat- 
ters, or  proceed  without  these.  This  is  an  effect  of  soli 
tary  study  ;  one  of  the  uses  of  the  public  teacher  is  lo 
stem  the  tendency,  When  left  to  ourselves  we  do  not 
always  see  what  necessarily  lies  between  us  and  the 
goal  we  are  aiming  at. 

5.  The  language  memory,  which  is  at  its  height  some- 
what prior  to  the  maturity  of  the  abstractive  power, 
carries  a  great  many  things  in  the  unmeaning  state  ;  and 


206  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS— LOGICAL. 

the  more  we  are  endowed  with  it,  the  farther  we  can  go 
in  dispensing  with  the  full  comprehension  of  what  we 
are  laying  up.  It  is  often  said  that  a  knowledge  of 
meaning,  in  the  shape  of  cause  and  effect,  or  other  ra- 
tional relationship,  is  the  besi  aid  to  retentiveness ;  but 
til  is  is  conditional.  A  good  language  memcry  dispenses 
with  all  that. 

We  avail  ourselves  of  the  language  stage  of  the 
mind  to  forge  adhesive  links  that  are  not  so  easy  after- 
wards. Principles,  maxims,  theorems,  formulas,  defini- 
tions, that  need  to  obtain  a  firm  place  in  the  memory, 
may  be  given  a  little  in  advance  of  their  being  fully 
understood.  The  licence  must  not  be  abused.  For 
one  thing,  the  memory  will  not  receive  them,  if  they 
are  wholly  devoid  of  interest ;  there  must  be  something 
either  in  the  form  of  the  words,  or  in  the  substance,  to 
engage  the  feelings,  otherwise  the  anticipation  is  no 
economy.  Rules  in  verse  have  this  advantage.  A 
scientific  formula  may  have  a  certain  pomp  of  lan- 
guage that  impresses  before  it  is  understood.  If  the 
subject  affects  the  emotions,  a  faint  glimmer  of  meaning 
is  enough  ;  or  one  part  understood  may  buoy  up  a  good 
deal  that  is  not. 

Pithy  antithetic  forms  are  easily  committed  in  ad- 
vance of  the  understanding  of  them.  'A  line  is  length 
without  breadth,'  is  very  abstruse  in  meaning,  but  very 
easy  to  carry  in  the  memory.  'AH  liquids  seek  their 
level,'  by  dint  of  shortness  and  personification,  ob- 
tains an  easy  access  to  our  stock  of  remembered  forms. 
The  proverbial  saws  that  we  are  accustomed  to  hear, 
are  stamped  on  the  recollection  long  previously  to  our 
being  able  to  comprehend    them.     A  long,  prolix,  un- 


DETACHED  PROPOSITIONS.  20J 

melodious,  dry,  and  unintelligible  statement  might  be 
committed  through  the  urgency  of  the  schoolmaster ; 
but.  however  valuable  it  might  be,  in  the  day  when  it 
is  fully  revealed,  there  would  be  little  gained  by  the 
process. 

6.  It  is  possible  in  the  subjects  that  most  depend  on 
connection,  to  pick  up  detached  propositions  with  their 
illustrations,  and  to  hold  them  with  a  certain  amount  of 
understanding.  This  is,  in  fact,  to  repeat  the  empirical 
stage,  after  we  are  embarked  in  the  rational  or  scientific 
career.  A  great  many  minds  find  themselves  unable  to 
keep  up  with  the  consecutive  strain  of  a  demonstrative 
science,  and  yet  seize  hold  of  portions  of  the  reason- 
ing, such  as  to  pass  muster  in  examinations ;  being  only 
thrown  out  when  called  upon  to  reason  from  the  com- 
mencement. 

Like  retaining  knowledge  by  the  mere  language 
memory,  this  is  a  very  insufficient  mode  of  learning, 
and  ends  in  the  possession  of  scraps,  without  system  or 
method,  and  without  that  reproducing  power  that  a 
deductive  science  gives  when  once  fully  mastered. 

7.  It  is  not  a  breach  of  sequence  to  cull  precepts  from 
different  sciences,  and  apply  them  to  practice.  The 
rules  of  Arithmetic  can  be  put  in  operation  without 
the  reasons.  This  is  still  the  empirical  stage,  where  no 
sequence  is  observed.  Provided  only  the  terms  of  the 
rules  are  understood,  we  can  carry  them  out  in  practice, 
while  ignorant  of  the  general  subject,  and  wholly  unable 
to  give  the  reasons  for  them.  In  certain  cases  the  work- 
ing of  the  rules  is  not  affected  by  ignorance  of  the 
sciences  that  they  spring  from  ;  it  is  only  in  the  higher 
arts,  as  Mechanics,  Engineering,  Medicine,  Statecraft, 


208  SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

that  the  practitioner  is  to  any  great  degree  dependent 
upon  a  knowledge  of  principles  and  reasons. 

8.  The  cultivaticn  of  distinct  organs  or  faculties  may 
proceed  without  any  fixed  sequence.  There  is  no  settled 
order  as  between  Colour,  Form,  and  Number.  Singing 
neither  precedes  nor  follows  Drawing  ;  the  culture  of  the 
singing  voice  scarcely  depends  on  the  articulate  voice. 
The  elegances  of  tone  and  manner  in  speaking  can  be 
given  at  any  age :  the  only  rule  is  to  take  the  organs 
while  plastic,  and  before  they  have  contracted  a  wrong 
set.  So  with  carriage  and  deportment ;  with  dancing 
and  gymnastic  training  ;  with  manual  aptitude.  Again, 
moral  training  is  not  wholly  dependent  on  knowledge 
and  intelligence  ;  obedience  and  affection  may  take  an 
independent  start.  The  morality  that  rests  on  reasons 
and  consequences  must  wait  till  these  are  understood, 
and  is  much  later.  Finally,  there  is  no  essential  priority 
in  the  teaching  of  different  languages  ;  some  slight  ad- 
vantage is  gained  by  taking  Latin  prior  to  the  modern 
languages  derived  from  it ;  but  as  between  German  and 
Latin,  there  is  no  certain  order. 

The  power  of  Reading  is  not  essential  to  information 
in  things.  Knowledge  may  be  communicated  to  any 
extent  orally.  The  proper  time  for  beginning  book  ac- 
quirement is  a  matter  for  consideration  and  adjustment. 
Even  long  after  a  child  can  read,  it  is  unable  to  extract 
much  information  from  books. 

9,  The  knowledge  of  language  and  the  knowledge  oj 
things  should  proceed  together.  Yet  the  pace  of  the 
two  is  not  necessarily  the  same  ;  one  may  go  faster 
than  the  other.  The  knowledge  of  things  growing  out 
of  personal   and  solitary  observation   does   not   cany 


LANGUAGE  AND   INFORMATION.  209 

language  with  it.  Communicated  knowledge  supposes 
language  ;  still  the  attention  may  not  be  equally  directed 
to  the  facts  and  the  expressions.  Language  may  go 
on  while  knowledge  is  almost  stationary  ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  pupil's  facility  in  expressing  the  same  things  may 
he  steadily  improving.  There  is  not  a  single  fact  but 
admits  of  half  a  dozen  ways  of  being  stated.  Thus 
while  language  cannot  be  separated  from  things,  it  may 
be  carried  forward  irrespective  of  any  notable  advances 
in  knowledge  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  knowledge 
with  regard  to  language.  The  mere  preference  of  at- 
tention to  one  of  the  two  members  of  a  connected  couple 
pushes  forward  the  familiarity  with  that  member,  while 
the  other  is  scarcely  advancing  at  all.  The  effect  is 
illustrated  by  the  difference  of  the  two  kinds  of  minds 
— the  language  mind  and  the  reality  mind.  A  man 
cannot  have  the  power  of  language,  without  things  to 
apply  it  to  ;  but  his  fulness  of  expression  may  be  out  of 
proportion  to  his  knowledge  of  the  things  expressed. 

DOUBTFUL    CASES    OF    SEQUENCE. 

In  the  common  routine  of  education,  there  is  an  or- 
der that  may  not  be  violated.  The  different  stages  of 
reading  and  of  writing  cannot  be  transposed.  In  all  the 
mechanical  arts,  certain  simple  movements  have  to  be 
mastered,  and  are  then  conjoined  in  more  complicated 
operations.  There  may  occasionally  be  a  little  doubt  as 
to  which  of  several  movements  should  be  first ;  it  may 
want  a  subtle  analysis  to  decide  which  is  the  most  ele- 
mentary of.  two  acts  ;  as  whether  straight  strokes  or  pot- 
hooks are  the  best  commencing  exercise  in  writing. 

In  regard  to  Arithmetic,  the  only  question  is  the 


2IO  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

order  of  the  Empirical  and  the  Rational  stages.  In  the 
.  newer  methods  of  teaching,  what  used  to  be  purely  em- 
pirical, mechanical,  or  memory  by  rote — as  the  addi- 
tion sums  and  the  multiplication  table — is  now  made 
to  a  certain  extent  rational  from  the  beginning.  That 
is  to  say,  by  concrete  examples,  it  is  shown  how  4  and 
5  make  9,  and  3  times  7,  2 1  ;  and  on  the  basis  of 
the  concrete  illustrations,  the  equivalent  sums  and 
products  are  fixed  in  the  memory.  Still,  this  does  not 
amount  to  Rational  Arithmetic ;  it  goes  a  little  way, 
but  not  far.  Children  can  with  difficulty  rationalize 
vulgar  and  decimal  fractions  ;  and  hardly  at  all  the  rule 
of  three.  The  memory  for  the  Tables,  and  for  the  ma- 
nipulating of  fractions,  advances  much  faster  than  the 
comprehension  of  the  reasons  ;  and  it  is  not  desirable 
to  face  these  at  the  age  when  they  are  not  readily 
intelligible.  There  is  plenty  of  interest  in  the  operations 
without  the  comprehending  of  the  scheme  of  mathe- 
matical demonstration  ;  the  ability  to  work  out  the  pre- 
scribed exercises  brings  its  own  reward. 

In  certain  respects  this  knowledge  is  highly  scien- 
tific ;  the  terms  are  all  clearly  conceived,  the  directions 
precisely  followed,  and  the  results  accurately  arrived  at. 
There  is  nothing  slipshod,  no  vagueness  to  be  corrected, 
nothing  to  be  unlearned.  The  theory,  rationale,  or  de- 
monstrative connection  of  the  steps  is  alone  wanting ; 
and  that  is  a  later  acquirement. 

There  is  no  exact  parallelism  between  Arithmetic 
and  Grammar,  and  no  motive  for  priority,  one  over 
the  other.  Grammar  has  only  in  a  very  vague  form  the 
division  into  two  stages,  each  perfect  after  its  own 
kind.    The  order  of  grammatical  teaching  given  in  the 


SEQUENCE  IN   GRAMMAR.  211 

Standards  of  our  '  Code,'  does  not  represent  the  real 
sequence  of  study.  In  the  Examination  in  Standard  II., 
'the  scholar  is  to  point  out  the  nouns  in  the  passage 
read;'  in  Standard  III.,  have  to  be  pointed  out  'the 
nouns,  adjectives,  and  adverbs ; '  in  Standard  IV.,  are 
required  the  parts  of  speech  at  large ;  in  Standard  V., 
elementary  analysis  of  simple  sentences ;  in  Standard 
VI.,  grammatical  analysis  in  general. 

The  spreading  of  the  Parts  of  Speech  over  three 
years  appears  a  most  arbitrary  proceeding.  The  assump- 
tions underlying  it — namely,  that  the  child  can  compre- 
hend the  Noun  a  year  sooner  than  it  can  the  Adjective 
and  Verb,  and  these  a  year  before  the  Pronoun,  Prepo- 
sition, and  Conjunction — are  not  based  on  any  facts  or 
reasons.  The  Pronoun  can  be  taught  as  soon  as  the 
Noun  is  understood  ;  and  the  Verb,  Adverb,  and  Prepo- 
sition are  all  linked  together.  Moreover,  if  the  Parts  of 
Speech  are  to  be  properly  taught,  the  Analysis  of  Sen- 
tences should  come  forward  at  the  very  beginning. 

Again,  as  the  Parts  of  Speech  must  be  all  under- 
stood before  any  grammatical  rule  can  be  given,  or  any 
error  be  corrected  on  grammatical  principles,  there  is, 
on  the  above  plan,  an  enormous  suspension  of  the  prac- 
tical interest  of  the  subject.  For  two  years,  at  least,  all 
is  barren.  This  circumstance  alone  is  a  great  waste  of 
power.  In  Arithmetic,  the  fruits  of  the  teaching  are 
reaped  almost  from  the  commencement ;  questions  are 
worked,  and  applications  made  such  as  the  pupil  can 
feel  humanly  interested  in.* 

'  English  Grammar  has  been  passing  through  a  revolution  in  the  course 
of  the  last  thirty  years  ;  the  definitions  of  the  Parts  of  Speech  have  been 
vitally  changed.     I  have  dwelt  upon  this  subject  in  another  place  (aee 


212  SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

As  regards  sequence  in  learning  the  mother  tongue, 
there  is  no  particular  order  in  the  vocables  themselves : 
these  arise  with  the  occasions,  and  with  the  subject- 
matter  or  things.  The  grammatical  or  structural  part 
is  learned  at  first  by  hearing  and  repeating  connected 
sentences.  If  those  are  obtained  from  correct  models, 
the  child  learns  correct  speaking  at  once ;  and  may 
master  all  but  the  most  delicate  refinements  of  speech 
without  any  grammar  or  scholastic  teaching.  Every- 
thing is  learnt  empirically ;  reasons  are  neither  given 
nor  sought,  being  for  the  most  part  unnecessary. 

The  ordinary  English  teacher  has  to  deal  with  pupils 
in  every  way  deficient  as  regards  the  power  of  speaking 
English.  Not  to  mention  that  their  information  is  in  a 
backward  state,  and  with  that  the  language  suitable  for 
conveying  it,  pupils  express  what  they  know  badly;  they 
have  not  either  number  or  choice  of  words,  they  have 
not  a  command  of  sentence  arrangements ;  their  forms 
of  expression  are  positively  bad,  whether  as  grammar 
or  as  idiom.  If  they  could  be  made  to  understand  the 
grammatical  science,  that  might  be  the  shortest  way  to 
their  improvement.  But  the  work  of  education  is  com- 
menced long  before  this  is  possible,  and  they  must  be 
instructed  empirically,  the  reasons  being  delayed  for 
several  years.     It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  know- 

Companion  to  the  Higher  Grammar).     The  old  definitions  rendered  the 
science  profoundly  illogical,  and  but  little  suited  to  its  main  purpose. 

I  do  not  believe  that  Grammar  in  any  shape  can  be  a  scientific  or 
Idgical  discipline.  I  doubt  if  there  be  any  practical  science  (except  Logic 
itself)  that  can  impart  a  training  beyond  its  own  purpose  ;  and  Grammar  is 
not  an  exception,  although  attempts  are  made  to  rei.der  it  such.  I  have 
given  the  reasons  very  fully  in  an  article  on  '  Teaching  English '  in  the 
Fortnightly  Review,  for  August,  1869. 


GRAMMAR   AN   ADVANCED   STUDY.  213 

ledge  (if  such  it  could  be  called)  of  three  out  of  the  seven 
parts  of  speech  could  make  a  basis  for  approaching  the 
scientific  explanation  of  good  grammar.  In  the  reading 
exercises,  in  the  teacher's  spoken  address,  the  pupils  hear 
proper  and  correct  language,  as  well  as  choice  and  effec- 
tive language.  In  their  own  answers,  they  perpetually 
fall  short  both  in  grammar  and  in  other  merits ;  and 
they  are  to  be  corrected  on  the  occasion,  and  told  what 
they  ought  to  say ;  reasons  being  as  yet  withheld.  Their 
known  provincialisms  are  expressly  called  out  in  order 
to  be  extirpated.  Even  if  they  leave  school  before  the 
age  of  grammar  (which  I  think  is  not  earlier  than  ten 
or  eleven)  they  should  still  be  sufficiently  disciplined 
in  correct  speaking  to  rise  above  the  prevailing  vulgar 
errors,  if  not  to  attain  a  better  style  of  speaking  and 
writing  in  the  whole. 

While  there  is  no  natural  priority  as  between  the  two 
subjects  of  Rational  Arithmetic  and  Grammar  (which 
is  rational  from  its  very  nature),  of  the  two  wc  may  pro- 
nounce Grammar  much  the  hardest,  and  requiring  a 
riper  state  of  the  faculties.  In  point  of  difficulty,  I 
would  compare  Grammar  to  the  commencement  of  Al- 
gebra ;  meaning  by  Grammar — Analysis  of  Sentences, 
the  Definitions  of  the  Parts  of  Speech,  and  the  equiva- 
lent functions  of  the  single  word,  the  phrase,  and  the 
clause.  There  are  easier  parts  of  grammar:  both  In- 
flexion and  Derivation  are  easier  than  Parts  of  Speech 
and  Syntax;  but  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  introducing 
these  much  before  the  age  when  every  part  of  Grammar 
may  be  understood. 

There  is  abundant  occupation  from  six  to  nine  years 
in  knowing  words  and  in  getting  sentence  forms  impressed 


214  SEQUENCE  OF  SUBJECTS— LOGICAL. 

on  the  memory,  together  with  pronunciation  and  good 
reading.  In  addition  to  committing  poetry,  short  pieces 
of  prose  may  be  selected  for  the  goodness  of  the  style, 
and  also  committed.  There  is  no  need  ever  to  take  a 
sentence  to  pieces.  Sentences  may  be  varied  to  show 
the  same  thing  differently  worded;  and  the  pupils  will 
gradually  feel  the  superiority  of  one  form  over  others ; 
while,  as  regards  the  correct  and  conventional  idioms, 
they  must  take  the  merits  upon  trust.    (See  Chap.  IX.) 

Still  greater  difficulties  of  sequence  are  found  in  the 
knowledge  communicated  during  the  first  few  years  of 
school  training.  The  composition  of  the  Reading-books 
shows  the  prevailing  views  as  to  what  subjects  are  to 
precede  and  what  to  follow  one  another.  There  is  usually 
a  mixture  of  easy  poetry,  tales,  mostly  with  a  moral, 
and  simple  information  on  interesting  subjects  within  the 
capacity  of  children.  The  ends  sought  are  to  give  plea- 
sure, to  cultivate  the  affections  and  the  moral  feelings, 
and  to  make  a  beginning  in  the  imparting  of  knowledge, 
or  rather  to  follow  up  the  desultory  impressions  of  per- 
sonal experience,  with  connected  statements  that  shall 
extend,  rectify,  and  concentrate  these  chance  impres- 
sions. Nevertheless,  exercises  in  spelling,  pronouncing, 
reading,  and  knowledge  of  language,  at  first  take  the 
lead. 

For  interest  or  amusement,  the  tale  or  narrative  is 
the  central  device ;  and  the  art  of  weaving  suitable  tales 
has  attained  great  perfection.  A  piece  of  information, 
a  moral  lesson,  can  be  wrapped  up  in  a  short  tale,  and 
brought  home  with  impetus.  As  there  is  a  consider- 
able expenditure  of  mind   in  proportion  to  the  result, 


SEQUENCE  IN   KNOWLEDGE.  21 5 

the  information  or  moral  should  be  well  selected  ;  every 
little  point  in  the  vast  area  of  useful  knowledge  cannot 
afford  the  requisite  machinery. 

Next  to  the  tale  (which  may  be  prose  or  verse)  is  the 
poem,  or  metrical  composition.  The  special  advantage 
is  the  impression  made  on  the  ear,  and  through  that  on 
Ihe  memory ;  there  is  also  the  loftier  strain  of  diction, 
which  the  child  is  gradually  led  up  to  appreciate. 
Poetry  is  used  for  moral  lessons,  and  also  for  conden- 
sing information :  the  months  of  the  year,  the  charac- 
ters of  the  seasons,  the  habits  of  animals,  the  description 
of  flowers,  the  events  of  history,  are  embodied  in  verse, 
for  better  lodgment  in  the  memory ;  being  more  agree- 
able as  communicated  in  this  form.  The  most  amusing 
Df  all  is  the  bold  imaginative  fiction,  wrought  up  even 
to  extravagance ;  this  can  barely  be  allowed  to  pass  as 
culture,  although  that  claim  is  sometimes  made  for  it 
jnder  the  head  of  Imagination. 

There  is  no  real  question  of  priority,  until  we  look 
closely  to  the  kind  of  information  brought  forward  in 
the  separate  stages  of  the  reading  lessons.  On  this 
matter,  teachers  seem  hitherto  to  be  only  feeling  their 
way  ;  it  is  no  easy  task  to  chalk  out  a  course  that  shall 
be  really  consecutive.  For  one  thing,  it  is  difficult  to 
gain  an  adequate  view  of  how  much  knowledge  the  child 
(»f  six  or  seven  brings  with  it  to  found  upon.  The  ex- 
periment is  not  easy  to  make,  owing  to  the  very  erratic 
character  of  a  child's  promiscuous  impressions.  What 
is  still  more  serious  is  the  difficulty  of  laying  hold  of 
anything  in  the  nature  of  information  that  is  worth 
communicating,  and  yet  does  not  shoot  too  high. 

If  the  early  training  could  be  so  directed  as  to  en- 

i6 


2l6  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

rich  and  invigorate  the  conceptive  faculty,  a  time  would 
come  when  definite  knowledge  could  be  absorbed  so 
rapidly  as  to  dispense  with  the  attempts  to  impart  it 
prematurely.  All  the  information  in  a  reading  book 
for  the  Third  Standard,  which  is  spread  over  a  year, 
could  be  taken  in  by  an  apt  boy  of  fifteen  in  three 
weeks. 

With  an  eye  to  such  training,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
memory  for  outward  things,  for  sights,  sounds,  move- 
ments, must  be  carefully  nurtured.  A  certain  range 
of  objects  must  be  duly  impressed  in  the  first  instance, 
and  something  done  to  cultivate  new  constructions  or 
combinations  of  them. 

The  regular  course  of  school  training  has  this  effect, 
if  it  has  any  effect  at  all ;  but  it  is  under  the  guise  of 
contributing  definite  and  finished  information  about  this, 
that,  and  the  other  thing.  The  so-called  culture  of  the 
Imagination  is,  in  the  first  instance,  the  stirring  of 
emotions  pleasing  to  the  young.  By  virtue  of  the 
emotional  excitement,  certain  pictures,  images,  or  de- 
scriptions are  impressed  ;  and  these  are  a  part  of  the 
permanent  conceptions  of  the  mind,  useful  on  their  own 
account,  and  also  as  materials  for  working  up  other  con- 
ceptions. The  more  extravagant  they  are,  the  more 
they  contribute  to  present  emotion,  and  the  less  to  the 
stock  of  useful  conceptions.  'Jack  and  the  Bean-stalk,' 
'  Cinderella,'  *  Puss  in  Boots,'  et  hoc  genus  omne,  possess 
very  little  cultivating  power.  It  is  to  stirring  incidents 
from  real  life  that  the  advantage  in  this  respect  most 
decidedly  belongs. 

In  the  present  connection,  we  may  take  a  fuithcf 
glance  at  the  Object  lesson  and  the  manner  of  conducfc 


OBJECT   LESSONS.  21/ 

ing  it.  The  teacher  can  make  anything  he  pleases  out 
of  this  ;  it  may  aid  the  conceiving  faculty,  or  it  may 
not.  The  first  good  effect  of  it  is,  to  waken  up  ob- 
servation to  things  within  the  pupils'  ken  ;  by  asking 
su:h  questions  as  will  send  them  back  to  re-examine 
what  they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  slurring  over;  or 
by  questioning  them  on  objects  actually  present.  This 
is  the  beginning  of  the  culture  proposed.  A  wrong 
direction  is  given  to  the  lesson  when  we  assume  the 
pupils'  capability  of  bringing  to  mind  whatever  things 
they  may  have  once  seen,  and  when  we  expect  them  to 
make  these  up  into  new  combinations. 

The  basis  of  the  conceptive  faculty  is  necessarily  ex- 
perience of  things  ;  of  scenes,  human  dwellings,  inhabited 
cities,  and  all  their  component  parts,  living  beings  — 
men,  animals,  plants — operations  and  activities,  social 
gatherings  and  intercourse.  The  wider  this  experience, 
the  better  is  the  commencement.  Next  to  experience 
are  motives  to  attention  or  observation  ;  these  belong  to 
the  character  of  the  mind,  and  cannot  be  artificially 
produced,  except  to  a  small  extent.  Intelligent  com- 
panions are  the  best  fostering  causes  of  the  requisite 
attention.  We  cannot  secure  strong  emotions  at  every 
point ;  and  even  if  we  could,  a  more  moderate  excite- 
ment would  be  better  in  the  long  run. 

The  teacher  might  try  to  realize  the  situation  of  the 
child  in  its  random  accumulation  of  experiences,  and 
to  play  up  to  it.  Opportunities  arise  for  stimulating 
interrogatories  such  as  may  quicken  the  retrospective 
glances  at  what  has  been  experienced,  and  sharpen 
and  point  the  attention  for  the  succeeding  opportunity. 
Books  can  hardly  be  contrived  so  as  to  hit  the  marlc 


2l8  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

Indeed,  it  is  not  easy  to  conduct  a  class  in  this  litie  of 
exercises,  wherein  individuals  differ  so  much.  The 
routine  of  teaching  as  prescribed  for  teachers  gene- 
rally cannot  readily  be  accommodated  to  the  purpose ; 
although  the  end  may  be  brought  before  the  mind 
of  every  instructor. 

Let  me  advert  still  further  to  the  composition  of  the 
ordinary  Reading  Books,  as  regards  the  point  of  se- 
quence. The  subjects  of  the  tirst  standards  are  simple 
poetry,  fables,  anecdotes  of  animals,  easy  stories.  This 
is  the  stage  when  learning  to  read  is  the  chief  end  of 
the  lesson,  the  subjects  being  immaterial  and  secondary. 
In  so  far  as  the  child  reaches  to  a  comprehension  of  the 
meaning,  it  finds  gratification  for  the  simpler  affections 
and  emotions,  and  is  not  expected  to  appropriate  much 
information.  Moral  lessons  are  never  lost  sight  of  Bio- 
graphies of  good  and  eminent  persons  are  an  early  meal. 

In  the  second  and  third  standards,  while  the  poetry 
is  more  varied,  and  the  stories  more  lengthened,  definite 
information  begins  in  various  forms.  Natural  History 
turns  up  one  large  region  that  is  persistently  drawn  upon. 
Next  come  the  two  wide-ranging  departments — Geo- 
graphy and  Civil  History.  A  further  branch  is  Useful 
Knowledge — respecting  the  arts,  industry  and  usages  of 
life.  All  of  these  are  given  at  first  on  the  desultory  and 
empirical  plan  ;  and,  not  till  the  higher  Standards  have 
to  be  used,  is  an  attempt  made  to  be  more  consecutive. 
Elementary  notions  are  afforded  of  Physics,  Chemistry, 
and  Physiology ;  to  these  belong  a  rigorous  sequence, 
unless  we  still  adhere  to  the  desultory  and  empirical 
treatment,  which  is,  properly  speaking,  not  science,  but 
the  preparation  for  it. 


NATURAL    HISTORY.  219 

Natural  History  has  three  principal  divisions,  corre- 
sponding to  the  three  kingdoms — Mineral,  Vegetable, 
Animal.  A  perfect  understanding  of  these  subjects, 
(not  including  a  mastery  of  all  the  details,  but  the 
knowledge  of  a  certain  number,  with  the  ability  to  com- 
prehend the  rest  when  stated)  supposes  some  knowledge 
of  Mathematics,  Physics,  Chemistry,  and  Physiology. 
Minerals  would  come  first,  in  the  proper  arrangement, 
then  Plants,  then  Animals,  But  there  is  a  kind  of 
knowledge  of  the  subject  that  inverts  all  this,  and  that 
is  the  knowledge  afforded  in  the  first  Reading  Books. 
Among  the  very  earliest  topics  are  the  descriptions  of 
particular  species  of  animals,  as  the  rook,  the  butterfly, 
the  bee,  the  spider,  the  sheep,  the  camel,  the  elephant. 
The  order  of  selection  seems  to  be  mere  chance.  The 
aim  is  to  take  up  what  is  already  in  some  way  familiar 
and  interesting,  through  actual  acquaintance,  or  wide- 
spread repute.  For  example,  every  child  has  seen  a 
butterfly ;  could  anything  be  better  as  the  subject  of  a 
lesson .''  On  this  slight  basis  of  personal  knowledge 
the  reading  book  imparts  a  quantity  of  information 
belonging  to  the  Natural  History  of  the  animal.  It  is 
of  the  class  Insects  ;  its  swallow-tailed  wing  is  covered 
with  a  fine  dust,  which  under  the  microscope  is  seen  to 
be  made  up  of  scales  ;  it  lives  on  the  nectar  of  flowers, 
which  it  sucks  up  with  a  bony  tube  or  trunk  ;  it  has  ten 
feelers  or  anteimce ;  its  eyes  are  composite  or  mosaic ; 
like  other  winged  insects,  it  passes  through  various 
stages — ^^^^  larva,  chrysalis,  butterfly.  In  the  Third 
and  Fourth  Standards,  this  kind  of  lesson  is  frequent. 

Again,  as  to  Plants.  These  are  by  no  means  so 
popular;  they  want  the  interest  of  personality.     Such 


220  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

wonders  of  the  forest  as  the  baobab  and  the  banyan  are 
brought  forward  and  sketched  so  as  to  show  their  form, 
while  description  indicates  their  dimensions  and  other 
circumstances  that  inspire  astonishment.  Flowers  are 
ushered  in  to  view,  at  first  by  the  abundance  of  the 
poetry  that  embraces  them,  and  in  the  incidents  of  gar- 
dening that  occur  in  little  domestic  and  other  tales. 
Botanical  knowledge  comes  much  later. 

Minerals  are  selected  on  similar  considerations  ;  from 
their  splendour,  rarity,  popularity,  and  other  exciting 
circumstances.  There  is,  however,  no  conscious  purpose 
in  bringing  them  forward.  The  author  of  a  reading 
book  seldom,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  judge,  pro- 
poses to  himself  representative  selections  of  the  great 
departments  of  knowledge. 

In  these  early  reading  books  it  is  evident  that  the 
regard  to  sequence  is  very  much  dispensed  with  ;  the 
supposition  being  that  the  stage  for  it  has  not  yet  ar- 
rived. Nevertheless,  it  cannot  be  entirely  dispensed 
with.  *  A  butterfly  is  of  the  class  Insects  ; '  this  refers 
back  to  some  previous  knov.'ledge  of  insects  as  a  class, 
and  if  no  such  knowledge  has  been  given,  the  explana- 
tion halts.  The  mode  of  putting  it  in  that  case  should 
be  different.  The  appearance  or  features  of  a  common 
butterfly  would  first  be  stated  :  these  every  child  would 
partly  recognize,  while  inwardly  resolving  to  observe 
them  better  next  time.  Then  the  less  apparent  organs 
might  be  noticed ;  together  with  the  microscopic  addi- 
tions. This  would  be  enough  for  the  description  at 
that  stage.  Next  the  flight  or  motions  might  be  stated. 
Then  would  come  the  mode  of  feeding,  with  which 
everyone   can   sympathize,     Af<"er  which   the   marvels 


PERSONALITY   INTERVENING.  221 

of  its  transformations  could  be  adduced  in  a  general 
way ;  all  the  better  for  the  aid  of  diagrams  or  specimens. 
Then,  at  the  last,  its  belonging  to  the  class  Insect  could 
be  so  mentioned  as  to  be  a  contribution  to  the  child's 
knowledge  of  the  class ;  other  familiar  examples,  as  the 
house-fly,  the  bee,  the  spider,  being  quoted.  Even  in 
the  desultory  citation  of  interesting  examples,  sequence 
is  still  an  expository  condition  ;  the  order  of  proceeding 
from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  from  the  vague  to  the 
precise,  from  the  individual  or  species  to  the  general, 
must  always  be  observed. 

The  interest  of  personality  is  perpetually  inverting 
the  order  of  study.  The  child  is  introduced  to  men, 
women,  boys,  girls,  cats,  dogs,  horses,  canaries,  almost 
before  anything  else.  In  scientific  Zoology,  the  mental 
qualities  of  animals  are  the  last  thing  quoted ;  indeed, 
these  are  often  left  out  altogether.  We  acquire  a  certain 
superficial  knowledge  of  beings  and  animals,  from  at- 
tending to  their  outward  aspects  and  movements,  through 
our  sympathetic  or  other  emotions.  The  Naturalist 
begins  at  the  other  end  ;  and  it  is  no  easy  r.iatter  to 
overtake  him  from  our  starting-point. 

It  is  plain  that  we  must  work  out  three  stages  in 
Natural  History  study.  The  first  is  allusive  and  de- 
sultory in  the  extreme  degree.  No  order  is  observed 
except  to  begin  with  what  will  afford  interest  to  the 
most  juvenile  feelings.  It  is  a  mere  continuatir-n  of  the 
early  impressions  that  animals,  plants,  and  minerals 
make  on  the  mind  by  virtue  of  their  chance  interest. 
I'here  is,  however,  another  stage,  where  there  is  provided 
information  of  the  scientific  kind,  only  not  in  strict 
iK:ientific  method.     Here  the  order  is  far  from  indifferent 


222  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS— LOGICAL. 

Whatever  descriptions  are  given  should  proceed  upon 
some  prior  knowledge,  and  should  be  kept  in  view, 
as  a  groundwork  of  something  farther.  The  order  of 
known  to  unknown,  simple  to  complex,  must  underlie 
all  teaching,  however  far  it  may  be  from  the  final,  or 
third,  stage  of  scientific  order. 

Let  me  next  advert  to  the  teaching  of  Geography, 
which  is  perhaps  the  most  advanced  in  method  of  any 
subject,  except  Arithmetic.  The  sequence  from  the 
known  to  the  unknown  has  been  well  worked  out  in 
the  scheme  of  Geographical  lessons ;  the  teachers  in  the 
German  schools  are  very  strong  on  this  head.  It  is 
well  recognized  that  the  first  notions  of  Geography  are 
got  from  the  child's  own  neighbourhood  ;  a  hill,  a  val- 
ley, a  stream,  a  field,  a  plain,  must  all  be  seen  in  the 
first  instance ;  and  it  is  desirable  that  a  plurality  of 
each  should  come  under  observation  before  beginning 
Geography.  Very  young  children  cannot  view  these 
things  in  their  geographical  aspect.  The  ability  to 
form  pictures  of  mountains  and  rivers  in  other  countries 
is  a  late  stage  of  the  conceptive  faculty.  The  full  notion 
of  a  river  takes  a  great  deal  of  thinking  power,  im- 
phcating  as  it  does  hill  and  valley,  as  well  as  the 
notion  of  an  expanse  of  countrj'-  made  up  of  these, 
and  constructed  so  as  to  converge  to  one  main  channel. 
All  these  elements  have  to  be  dealt  with  in  separation, 
and  yet  in  a  well-considered  order,  as  so  many  object 
lessons. 

Concurrently  with  this  effort  is  the  mastering  of 
direction,  and  the  cardinal  points.  This  is  one  of  the 
earliest  abstractions  that  the  pupil  is  expected  to  master. 


SEQUENCE  IN  GEOGRAPHY.         223 

being  coeval  with  the  higher  stages  of  Arithmetic.  It 
can  be  very  successfully  conducted  upon  the  immediate 
surroundings  of  the  school,  and  these  can  be  put  into 
their  Geographical  relations  at  the  same  time;  while  the 
imagination  can  be  conducted  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south,  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  by  naming  more  lo- 
calities that  stretch  out  in  the  several  directions.  The 
explanation  of  the  four  points  can  readily  be  carried 
up  to  the  course  of  the  sun,  yielding  at  the  same  time 
the  beginning  of  an  Astronomy  lesson,  but  the  teacher 
should  beware  of  pursuing  these  collateral  lessons  be- 
yond his  immediate  purpose. 

*  The  geography  of  the  infant  school,'  says  Currie, 
'  should  be  pictorial  and  descriptive.  Commencing  with 
the  elements  of  natural  scenery  that  fall  under  the 
child's  observation,  and  carefully  noting  their  distance 
and  relative  direction  from  the  school,  and  from  each 
other — the  hill,  the  mountain,  the  brook,  the  river,  the 
plain,  the  forest,  the  moor,  the  rich  mould,  the  island, 
the  sea,  the  cliff,  the  cape,  the  castle,  the  village,  the 
city,  that  may  be  seen  in  prospect  from  the  school ;  the 
productions  of  his  own  land — its  animals,  its  trees  and 
flowers  and  herbs,  its  metals  ;  the  men  of  his  own  land 
— their  occupations,  their  customs,  their  habits,  their 
food,  their  clothing  ;  it  should  seek  to  make  the  child 
realize  the  corresponding  features  of  other  lands  and 
climes  by  comparison  with  what  it  has  observed  in  its 
own  We  should  even  set  before  his  eye,  when  possible, 
specimens  and  pictures  of  foreign  products  and  scenes, 
and  for  the  rest  appeal  to  his  imagination  to  take  off  the 
impressions  from  our  vivid  description.  Such  is  an  out- 
line in  brief  of  the  course  the  instruction  should  follow.' 


224  SEQUENCE  OF   SUBJECVS— LOGICAL. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  such  a 
course  in  the  infant  stage.  It  implies  first  that  the  child 
has  had  full  opportunities  of  seeing  places  and  objects. 
Next  is  assumed  that  the  child's  mode  of  looking  at 
scenery  has  been  elevated  above  its  own  petty  amuse- 
ments, and  has  seized  the  meaning  of  things  in  the 
great  scale.  Further,  there  is  taken  for  granted  the 
constructive  or  imaginative  power  of  realizing  other 
scenes  differently  arranged  and  made  up.  That  any 
child  before  ten  could  be  capable  of  such  an  effort  is 
not  to  be  credited.  It  begins  to  be  practicable  to  the 
well-educated  youth  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  and  approaches 
the  greatest  heights  of  a  successful  training  of  the  con- 
ceptive  powers. 

Nevertheless,  by  a  series  of  well-conducted  object 
lessons,  desultory  to  the  superficial  glance,  but  in  the 
highest  degree  methodical  underneath,  the  elementary 
facts  of  Geography  may  be  gradually  instilled,  and  a 
preparation  made  for  the  last  stage  of  formal  teaching 
by  the  maps.  A  great  quantity  of  Natural  History  and 
other  knowledge  is  taken  for  granted  in  carrying  out 
the  modern  method  of  endeavouring  to  conceive  in  full 
concreteness  the  aspects  of  the  various  countries.  But, 
indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  so  high  an  aim  is 
really  accomplished  ;  yet,  there  is  good  done,  and  not 
harm,  in  entertaining  it. 

When  the  power  of  conceiving  is  sufficiently  ad- 
vanced, and  when  it  has  been  fully  exercised  in  geo- 
graphical facts,  the  methodical  study  commences  and 
is  a  tolerably  plain  course.  The  selection  suitable  for 
pupils  at  different  stages  and  in  different  circumstances 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   HISTORY.  225 

g^ves  little  trouble.     The  subject  will  come  up  again 
presently  in  connection  with  our  next  discussion. 

Of  all  the  departments  of  early  teaching,  none  is  so 
unmanageable  as  History.  Its  protean  phases  of  infor- 
mation and  of  interest,  its  constant  mixture  of  what 
attracts  the  youngest  with  what  is  intelligible  only  to 
the  maturest  minds,  renders  it  especially  troublesome 
in  early  teaching.  Nothing  comes  sooner  home  to  the 
child  than  narratives  of  human  beings,  their  pursuits, 
their  passions,  their  successes,  and  their  disasters,  their 
virtues  and  their  vices,  their  rewards  and  their  punish- 
ments, their  enmities  and  their  friendships,  their  failures 
and  their  triumphs.  Arranged  in  circumstantial  narra- 
tive, with  the  suspense  of  a  plot,  and  the  sensational 
conclusion,  these  incidents  of  humanity  arouse  our 
feelings  and  interest,  at  the  first  dawn  of  intelligence, 
and  never  lose  their  magic. 

Narratives,  as  we  have  seen,  come  on  the  stage  to 
lighten  the  toil  of  learning  to  read  ;  they  are  not  further 
counted  on,  except  for  making  an  amiable  or  moral  im- 
pression. Gradually  they  are  made  the  vehicle  of  easy 
kinds  of  useful  information,  but  are  not  yet  thought  of 
as  supplying  historical  knowledge.  In  the  biographical 
form,  they  begin  to  enlarge  the  acquaintance  with 
human  beings  of  the  more  eminent  class,  but  with  a 
view  to  excite  emotions  in  the  first  instance.  The 
narratives  of  social  collective  action,  which  alone  is  pro- 
perly historical  knowledge,  start  with  battles,  which 
awaken  the  early  and  powerful  passions  of  the  mind, 
and  give  the  first  bias  to  the  sentiments  towards  our  own 
and  other  nations.     The  youthful  mind  soon  comes  ta 


226  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

understand  the  meaning  of  invasions,  aggression,  pil- 
lage, conquest,  on  one  hand,  and  victoiious  resistance, 
on  the  other,  with  the  incidents  of  co-operation  and 
alliances  on  either  side.  In  the  course  of  these  excit- 
ing narratives,  there  springs  up  a  vague  understanding 
of  the  great  fact  of  society — Sovereignty  and  Subjection  ; 
the  parental  sphere  being  a  help  to  the  conception.  By 
degrees,  the  ordinary  action  of  the  sovereign  power  in 
time  of  peace  comes  to  be  intelligible  in  the  more  pro- 
minent features,  as  administering  Justice,  raising  Taxes, 
and  making  Public  Works.  With  sovereignty  attached 
to  one  person  arises  the  conception  of  the  successive 
reigns  of  the  sovereigns,  with  which  is  associated  the 
mention  of  great  events,  and  especially  wars  and  other 
explosive  changes. 

As  with  Geography,  so  with  History,  the  first  thing 
is  to  familiarize  the  mind  with  the  elements,  or  con- 
stituents of  historical  changes  or  events.  Only,  these 
are  of  a  greater  degree  of  complexity,  and  belong  to  a 
far  later  stage.  Moreover,  the  child  lives  in  the  midst 
of  the  simpler  geographical  elements  ;  views  with  itb 
own  eyes,  hills,  valleys,  plains,  rivers,  cities.  It  is  not  so 
easy  to  bring  it  into  the  presence  of  historical  elements. 
It  knows  family  life,  and  a  little  beyond  that ;  it  know^i 
of  the  policeman  and  his  duties  as  representing  in  a 
humble  way  the  power  of  the  State.  For  historical  con- 
ceptions, it  must  wait  a  much  longer  time,  and  take  a 
great  deal  upon  trust.  But  since  the  deep  political 
forces,  which  it  cannot  understand,  take  the  form  of  a 
stirring  narrative,  which  it  can  in  part  understand,  history 
is  seldom  entirely  devoid  of  interest  or  debarred  from 
leaving  impressions,  and  in  those  impressions  are  mate- 


ERRORS   IN    HISTORY   SEQUENCE.  22/ 

rials  that  may  one  day  constitute  a  portion  of  historical 
knowledge,  in  the  highest  forms.  Children's  history  is 
simply  the  sensational  events  of  history  extracted  with 
as  little  of  the  abstruser  explanations  as  it  is  possible  to 
give.  It  may  be  so  conducted,  and  should  be  so  con- 
ducted, as  to  impart  an  outline  of  correct  chronology, 
which  should  be  deposited  in  the  memory  at  the  earliest 
convenient  moment  when  it  is  likely  to  be  retained. 

The  reasons  are  obvious  and  many  for  beginning  with 
our  own  country.  We  assume  that  there  has  preceded 
a  view  of  the  geography  of  the  country,  which  fits  into 
the  history,  so  as  to  enhance  the  effect  of  both.  Then 
all  knowledge  respecting  the  existing  facts  and  arrange- 
ments of  our  nation — the  Legislative,  Administrative, 
and  Judicial  Systems,  the  Standing  Army  and  Navy,  the 
Religious  Denominations  in  the  three  Kingdoms,  Edu- 
cation, Agriculture,  Trade,  Manufactures, — assists  in 
making  intelligible  the  history  of  the  past. 

There  can  be  no  systematic  teaching  of  History  in 
school  years  ;  but  there  may  be  an  avoidance  of  perverse 
and  erroneous  methods.  The  attempt  to  plunge  into 
modern  European  History  at  large  with  children  of  ten, 
can  but  confuse ;  select  episodes  should  be  chosen  on 
the  ground  of  their  impressiveness.  The  same  in  regard 
to  Ancient  History,  with  its  more  stirring  incidents,  and 
its  gorgeous  mythology,  which,  as  being  the  creation  of 
the  infancy  of  the  race,  has  power  to  arrest  the  infant 
mind  in  the  individual,  and  is  presented  with  this  express 
view.  Seeing  that  very  little  of  real  instruction  can  come 
of  all  this,  the  point  is  to  see  that  it  makes  an  impression 
on  the  feelings,  and  througn  them  on  the  conceptive 
power  or  the  imagination  ;  if  it  falls  flat  and  has  to  be 


228  SEQUENCE   OF   SUBJECTS — LOGICAL. 

inculcated  by  the  force  of  discipline,  it  is  better  with- 
held. 

In  teaching  Geography,  slight  touches  of  history  may 
be  given,  and  in  teaching  History,  geographical  facts 
may  be  impressed ;  due  regard  being  had  to  the  pre- 
caution of  not  pursuing  the  digressions  too  far. 

How  to  teach  History  proper,  at  the  age  when  it  can 
be  taught,  resolves  itself  into  the  method  of  explaining 
the  elementary  facts  and  workings  of  Government  and 
Society,  or  what  is  called  Sociology.  This  might  have 
to  be  considered  at  the  same  time  with  the  question  of 
introducing  the  laws  of  Political  Economy,  which  form 
a  part  of  Sociology,  in  some  respects  simpler  than  the 
laws  of  Politics  at  large,  although  in  the  end  mixed  up 
with  these.  As  repeatedly  remarked,  the  stream  of 
stirring  narrative  carries  with  it  a  number  of  fragments 
of  a  scheme  of  Sociology;  and  a  time  comes  when 
they  may  be  pieced  together  and  the  scheme  com- 
pleted. 

As  History  will  always  be  brought  into  early  teaching 
long  before  the  age  when  Sociology  can  be  taught  as  a 
science  following  on  the  Science  of  Mind,  there  must  be 
an  empirical  sociology  involved  or  implied.  This  would 
suit  the  middle  period  of  a  complete  education,  say  be- 
tween thirteen  and  sixteen,  when  by  the  present  arrange- 
ments classical  teaching  is  in  the  ascendant.  At  that  time 
the  elements  of  Social-  Science  might  be  introduced,  and 
might  receive  their  illustration  in  the  historical  field ; 
but  historical  reading,  apart  from  some  definite  social 
conceptions,  must  still  remain  in  the  lower  stage  of 
sensation  narrative  ;  or  at  most  can  but  add  to  the 
more  ordinary  facts  of  human  nature. 


ORDER  IN  THE  SCIENCES.  229 

The  only  remaining  topic  of  Sequence  is  the  order 
of  the  leading  sciences — Mathematics,  Physics,  &c.  If 
we  take  the  five  fundamental  sciences — Mathematics, 
Physics,  Chemistry,  Biology,  Psychology,  the  order  now 
stated  is  what  would  be  generally  allowed.  The  Natural 
History  Sciences — Mineralogy,  Botany,  Zoology,  walk 
by  the  side  of  these  ;  Mineralogy,  following  on  Physics 
and  Chemistry,  and  Botany  and  Zoology  being  one  aspect 
of  Biology.  Psychology,  properly  taught,  would  succeed 
Biology ;  but  it  is  also  the  subject  of  an  empirical 
teaching  that  dispenses  with  the  knowledge  and  training 
of  the  preceding  sciences.  On  Psychology  would  hang 
Scientific  Sociology,  fed  by  the  earlier  studies  in  Geo- 
graphy and  History,  but  still  demanding  a  rigorous 
scientific  treatment  in  its  place  in  the  roll  of  the  sciences. 
This  would  be  the  stage  of  Political  Economy,  and  of 
the  highest  Ethical  teaching ;  but  both  of  these  are  sup- 
posed to  be  previously  given  in  the  empirical  shape. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

METHODS. 

The  foregoing  chapter  is  intended  to  relieve  the  present 
one  by  a  separate  handhng  of  one  leading  topic  of  Me- 
thod. A  full  consideration  of  order  or  sequence  lightens 
the  task  now  to  be  undertaken — namely,  to  set  forth  the 
methods  of  teaching  in  detail. 

The  Teaching  Method  is  arrived  at  in  various  ways. 
One  principal  mode  is  experience  of  the  work  ;  this  is 
the  inductive  or  practical  source.  Another  mode  is  de- 
duction from  the  laws  of  the  human  mind  ;  this  is  the 
deductive  or  theoretical  source.  The  third  and  best  mode 
is  to  combine  the  two  ;  to  rectify  empirical  teaching  by 
principles,  and  to  qualify  deductions  from  principles  by 
practical  experience. 

As  Morals,  Religion,  and  Art  are  not  included  in 
this  chapter,  the  discussion  will  revolve  on  the  one  great 
topic  of  communicating  knowledge,  and  will  follow  the 
various  aspects  that  knowledge  assumes — as  particular 
or  general,  and  as  relating  to  one  or  other  of  the  many 
departments  of  the  knowable  ;  for  example,  the  various 
sciences,  in  so  far  as  they  differ  in  their  methods  of 
teaching. 

The  arts  and  devices  for  communicating  knowledge 
are  comprised  in  the  practical  science  of  Rhetoric,  and 


RHETORICAL  ARTS   OF   EXPOSITION. 


231 


ought  to  be  exhaustively  viewed  in  that  science.  Rhe- 
toric, however,  has  not  yet  been  so  completely  shaped  as 
to  supply  everything  that  belongs  to  the  various  emer- 
gencies of  teaching.  Nevertheless,  the  study  of  that 
subject,  so  far  as  it  has  been  matured,  is  in  the  direct  line 
of  the  teacher's  work.  The  practice  of  the  school  not 
being  confined  to  the  means  of  assisting  the  understand- 
ing, but  involving  also  appeals  to  the  feelings,  all  the 
parts  of  Rhetorical  method  may  come  into  operation. 

Still,  Rhetoric,  as  usually  given,  leaves  out  many 
points  relative  to  the  work  of  the  school.  The  Rhe- 
torical arts  of  good  exposition,  by  Example,  by  Contrast, 
by  lUustr-ation,  by  Proof,  must  be  known  to  every  suc- 
cessful teacher  ;  but  the  ordering  of  lessons,  the  con- 
ducting of  viva  voce  interrogations,  the  proportioning  of. 
oral  instruction  to  book  work,  the  managing  of  object 
lessons, — demand  an  amount  of  consideration  that  they 
have  never  yet  received  from  any  writer  on  Rhetoric. 

The  outline  formerly  given  of  the  great  functions 
making  up  Intellect,  supplies  the  leading  points  of  me- 
thod, as  regards  knowledge  generally.  We  have  seen 
what  arrangements  favour  Discrimination  as  such  ;  and 
Discrimination  is  not  only  the  beginning  of  all  knowledge, 
but,  under  the  more  expressive  form  of  the  sense  of  Con- 
trast, bears  a  part  in  every  new  acquirement.  The  co- 
ordinate power  of  discerning  Agreement  has  also  its 
conditions,  and  these  were  previously  stated,  and  again 
repeated  in  the  last  preceding  chapter.  The  great  func- 
tion of  Retentiveness  was  likewise  briefly  unfolded,  as  to 
its  manner  of  working,  and  the  conditions  assigned  ;  these 
being  remarkably  precise,  as  well  as  all-important. 

In  reviewing  the  various  branches  of  school  instruc- 
17 


232  METHODS  : — CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

Hon,  we  can  discern  several  common  characteristics  ad- 
mitting of  general  treatment.  In  the  commencement  of 
Speaking,  in  Singing,  in  Writing,  and  in  Drawing,  we 
have  mechanical  constructiveness,  and  this  has  a  still  more 
extended  application  in  the  manual  arts.  The  mode  of 
working  here  is  simple  and  uniform;  its  conditions  have 
been  already  assigned  [p.  40],  and  will  now  be  more 
fully  exemplified.  In  learning  to  Read,  constructiveness 
is  joined  with  the  associating  operation  of  uniting  arti- 
culate sounds  with  visible  symbols.  There  is  also  called 
into  play  the  discriminating  sensibility  of  the  eye,  on 
which  depends  the  retentiveness  or  memory  for  visible 
forms. 

Constructiveness,  as  distinct  from  literal  memory,  en- 
ters into  all  the  higher  education,  and  is  described  under 
various  names,  the  most  apt  being  Conception  or  the 
Conceptive  power  or  faculty.  The  first  foundation  of  this 
may  be  called  memory,  provided  we  understand  that  it 
is  memory  of  the'  concrete,  or  the  full  sensible  image  of 
the  things  that  have  impressed  the  senses.  Having  been 
inside  a  great  building,  we  carry  away  with  us  a  more  or 
less  exact  recollection  of  its  form,  dimensions,  surface, 
and  contents,  in  their  order ;  this  is  memory,  but  it  is 
also  conception.  The  oftener  we  have  been  inside  the 
building,  and  the  more  attentive  we  have  been,  the  fuller 
and  firmer  is  our  mental  image.  To  hold  such  recollec- 
tions in  our  mind,  is  to  conceive  more  or  less  perfectly 
what  we  have  seen.  This  is  a  power  and  an  education 
in  itself;  and  it  is  the  ground-work  of  the  farther 
education  of  conceiving  what  we  may  not  have  seen, 
but  merely  hear  or  read  about 


BEGINNINGS  IN   SPEAKING.  233 

CONSTRUCTIVE  ACQUIREMENTS. 

We  shall  view  these  together,  as  they  proceed  ac- 
cording to  the  very  same  laws.  The  earliest  acquisitions 
of  infancy  exemplify  purely  mechanical  constructiveness. 
Such  are  Speaking,  Writing  and  Drawing. 

Reverting  to  the  principles  already  laid  down  respect- 
ing the  constructive  process,  we  have  first  to  lay  stress 
upon  the  random  or  spontaneous  commencement  of  our 
various  movements.  Action  of  some  sort  precedes  the 
desired  action  ;  a  great  many  movements  are  made  be- 
fore the  proper  one  appears.  The  teacher  cannot  dictate 
the  right  movement;  he  must  wait  upon  it,  and  try  to 
clench  it  when  it  is  at  last  hit  upon. 

Speaking. 

The  first  lessons  in  speaking,  gone  through  in  the 
nursery,  show  the  difficulties  of  commencement  at  their 
greatest.  The  school  teacher  finds  the  power  in  ex- 
istence, and  improves  upon  it.  He  has  to  impart  new 
articulations  and  to  correct  and  refine  the  old.  He  will 
encounter  much  stubborn  inability  to  fall  upon  the  de- 
sired sounds,  and  must  proceed  upon  correct  principles. 
His  own  articulation  needs  to  be  clear  and  expressive, 
for  the  sake  of  a  good  model.  He  must  consider  that 
this  is  one  of  the  trying  moments  of  instruction :  all 
the  circumstances  need  to  be  favourable ;  the  pupils 
should  be  at  their  best,  and  in  circumstances  to  favour 
vocal  freshness  and  spontaneity.  Many  trials  must  be 
allowed  to  get  a  child  into  a  new  shade  of  vowel,  as,  for 
example,  when  Scotch  children  have  to  learn  the  English 
sound  of  '  all.' 


234  METHODS  : — SPEAKING. 

Concurrently  with  the  alphabet  and  the  first  lessons 
in  reading,  there  is  a  great  extension  of  the  articulating 
range,  to  which  apply  all  the  maxims  relative  to  every 
new  constructive  process.  Time  must  be  bestowed  upon 
this  part  of  the  reading  exercise  tiy  itself,  irrespective  of 
the  farther  operations  of  distinguishing  and  attaching  the 
visible  letters.  The  joining  of  syllables  into  words,  is  a 
matter  of  farther  articulate  constructiveness,  and  furnishes 
no  small  demands  upon  the  flexibility  of  the  articulating 
organs,  as  well  as  upon  the  cohesive  or  plastic  power. 

A  good  analysis  of  sounds,  confirmed  by  teaching 
experience,  shows  the  best  order  of  the  exercises  in  arti- 
culating. The  vowels  are  indifferent  in  point  of  sequence ; 
the  consonants  may  show  a  gradation  of  facility.  The 
combinations  follow  the  sequence  of  simple  and  complex ; 
but  at  every  stage,  it  is  a  question  of  the  compass  and 
flexibility  of  the  articulating  organs,  the  beginnings 
being  wholly  at  random.  The  teacher's  opportunity  is 
some  chance  hit,  which  he  improves  until  the  lucky 
movement  is  well  confirmed. 

This  single  branch  of  the  reading  lesson  should  have 
much  time  bestowed  upon  it.  At  the  age  when  the 
communicating  of  knowledge  is  premature,  the  attention 
cannot  be  better  occupied  than  with  the  mechanical  ac- 
complishments— of  which  articulation  is  at  the  head.  The 
mere  power  of  articulating  should  be  followed  up  by 
elocution  and  cadence,  which  are  equally  suitable  as 
subjects  of  training  for  the  years  from  four  to  seven. 
To  these  also  the  same  cautions  are  applicable ;  the 
concentrating  of  time  and  strength  upon  initial  difii- 
culties,  and  the  patient  waiting  upon  the  pupil's  own 
spontaneity,  with  the  guidance  of  a  clear  model. 


MECHANICAL  ACQUISITIONS.  235 

TJte  Manual  Cotistructiveness. 

The  school  training  in  Writing  and  in  Drawing  is  a 
branch  of  the  training  of  the  hand.  The  practice  of 
I)utt!ng  children  to  write,  as  their  very  first  attempt  at 
delicate  handiwork,  appears  objectionable.  The  art  of 
writing  ranks  high  among  the  manual  acquirements,  and 
should  be  preceded  by  easier  exercises.  The  simpler 
lessons  of  Drawing  are  obviously  easier  than  writing ; 
while  the  making  of  symmetrical  shapes  is  more  agree- 
able than  forming  letters.  Probably  the  natural  course 
to  follow  would  be  the  method  of  the  Kindergarten,  which 
is  to  train  the  hand  upon  moulding  objects  in  clay,  fol- 
lowed by  cutting  out  paper  figures,  and  gradually  leading 
up  to  elementary  drawing,  after  which  writing  would 
come  with  comparative  ease,  but  would  still  be  a  con- 
siderable step  in  advance,  like  beginning  a  trade. 

The  mechanical  aptitudes  have  a  Sense  element, 
which  must  proceed  with  the  active  element.  The  child 
has  to  work  up  to  some  model  or  design,  and  must 
clearly  perceive  the  appearances  that  it  has  to  repro- 
duce. This  is  described  as  the  culture  of  the  senses  ;  but 
it  is  rather  the  culture  of  the  act  or  habit  of  attending 
to  sense  aspects  and  properties,  and  depends  on  evoking 
a  special  interest  or  aim.  The  interest  may  be  the  charm 
of  the  thing  itself;  this  may  apply  to  little  models  to 
be  imitated  in  clay,  or  to  designs  given  for  drawing,  but 
cannot  belong  to  alphabetical  characters.  There  is  also 
the  interest  of  successful  manipulation,  which  can  be 
drawn  upon  after  a  little  facility  is  gained.  This  belongs 
to  the  dullest  subjects,  and  is  the  more  needful  in  be- 
ginning to  write. 


236        METHODS  :  — MANUAL  CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

While  giving  all  credit  to  the  course  pursued  in  the 
Kindergarten,  in  devising  preparatory  manual  exercises, 
before  entering  on  the  difficulties  of  writing,  I  must  indi- 
cate what  appears  to  be  the  danger  and  the  abuse  oi 
that  mode  of  proceeding.  It  seems  a  mistake  to  con- 
stitute these  early  exercises  an  end  in  themselves,  and  to 
allow  the  pupil  to  be  absorbed  and  detained  by  them. 
A  certain  amount  of  manual  power,  and  of  sense  dis- 
crimination, is  necessary  to  everyone,  for  the  various 
exigencies  of  life,  and  as  a  preparation  for  the  higher 
knowledge;  but  it  is  only  particular  professions  or  trades 
that  carry  any  one  aptitude  to  high  perfection,  and  the 
culture  for  a  trade  should  not  be  set  before  the  child 
beginning  its  education.  The  drawing  of  symmetrical 
forms  and  elegant  curves  is  a  good  thing  by  the  way,  as 
training  the  hand  by  something  that  possesses  interest ; 
yet  is  but  a  means  to  an  end,  and  should  be  kept  in 
strict  subordination.  At  some  future  day,  select  indi- 
viduals will  develope  their  forte  or  capacity  for  drawing, 
and  render  themselves  skilled  in  it  as  artists  or  designers, 
only  that  is  out  of  place  at  the  commencement;  and  the 
indulgence  of  a  special  taste  at  the  early  stage  but 
disturbs  the  proper  career  of  the  learner. 

Apart  from  the  systematic  hand  training  of  the 
Kindergarten,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  advantage 
of  combining  writing  with  elementary  drawing,  as  is 
advocated  by  Currie  and  others.  In  the  process  of 
writing  itself,  the  analysis  of  forms  has  to  be  taken  into 
account,  as  is  carried  out  in  the  method  of  Mulhaiiser, 
This  is  merely  exemplifying  the  order  from  the  simple 
to  the  complex.  The  only  objection  to  the  method  is 
that  it  is  dry  and  uninteresting ;  the  pupil  feels  roused  to 


WRITING.  237 

a  grander  imitative  effort  by  having  a  complete  letter  to 
form  at  a  stroke.  And  although  grown  men,  such  as 
recruits  in  the  army,  can  be  kept  at  work  on  elemen-^ 
tary  movements,  children  have  little  heart  in  them,  and 
are  slow  in  conquering  the  difficulties  that  they  present 
It  is  like  practising  scales  in  music,  which  to  very  young 
pupils  is  repulsive.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  progress 
will  allow,  the  attempt  may  be  made  to  copy  the  com- 
plete letters,  without  surrendering  the  practice  in  strokes, 
pot-hooks,  and  the  other  simple  elements. 

The  proper  inclination,  dimensions,  and  distances  oi 
the  letters,  are  attained  through  a  delicate  sense  of  visible 
form  which  is  very  various  in  individuals,  and  is  best 
cultivated  by  drawing  exercises.  This  need  not  be 
pushed  to  an  extreme  point  of  delicacy  for  the  ends  of 
primary  education  ;  any  very  extraordinary  endowment 
in  the  art  is  likely  to  be  attended  with  deficiencies  in 
other  important  mental  qualities.  AH  pupils  should  be 
brought  up  to  the  point  of  plain  passable  writing ;  and 
should  be  made  to  put  stress  on  the  points  that  distin- 
guish such  letters  as  are  apt  to  be  confounded  :  it  is  not 
the  schoolmaster's  business  to  carry  writing  to  the  pitch 
of  a  work  of  art. 

The  Art  of  Drawing,  here  invoked  as  a  coadjutor  of 
the  first  steps  in  writing,  is,  I  presume,  sufficiently  well 
formulated  on  its  own  account.  I  am  interested  only  in 
the  more  elementary  exercises,  as  I  do  not  consider  the 
higher  stages  to  belong  to  general  education.  The  ex- 
ercise of  perspective  drawing  from  real  objects,  is  thought 
a  grand  culture  of  the  power  of  observation.  I  have 
already  expressed  doubts  as  to  the  truth  of  this  view : 
the  exercise  certainly  cultivates  the  observation  of  such 


238  METHODS  : — READING. 

points  as  are  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  ; 
whatever  is  involved  in  these  is  attended  to  ;  but  obser- 
vation is  a  large  word,  meaning  many  things  besides. 


Rcadwg. 

The  extent  and  complicacy  of  this  accomplishment 
make  it  the  work  of  years,  even  when  not  commenced 
very  early.  The  power  of  speaking  is  presupposed, 
although  it  is  in  connection  with  reading  that  perfection 
in  speech  is  ultimately  attained.  The  eye  and  the  in- 
tellectual processes  bear  the  brunt  of  the  acquisition. 

The  art  of  Reading  should  be  viewed,  in  the  first 
instance  as  distinct,  both  from  spoken  language  and  from 
the  knowledge  attained  through  speech ;  it  is  also  dis- 
tinct from  the  acquisition  of  farther  knowledge  through 
books,  although  intended  to  compass  that  object.  It  is 
the  art  of  pronouncing  words  at  sight  of  their  visible 
characters. 

If  our  language,  like  the  Chinese,  had  a  character  for 
each  word,  the  eye  would  have  to  be  taught  first  to  discri- 
minate the  characters ;  next  an  association  would  have 
to  be  formed  between  each  spoken  word  and  its  charac- 
ter. The  teacher  shows  the  character  and  pronounces 
the  word ;  the  pupil  attends  with  the  ear  and  with  the 
eye,  mostly  with  the  eye,  because  the  form  is  what  is 
strange  to  him.  We  are  not  informed,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  of  the  methods  of  the  Chinese  schoolmasters  for 
getting  through  the  herculean  task  of  forming  several 
thousands  of  distinct  associations  between  sounds  and 
symbols.  The  experience  of  ages  must  have  suggested 
the  most  economical  mode,  and  it  would  be  interesting 


THE   ALPHABET. 


239 


to  compare  the  approved  method  with  what  we  should 
deduce  from  the  laws  of  the  Retentive  faculty. 

As  an  Alphabetical  language,  English  is  learned  on 
tlie  principle  of  analyzing  words  into  their  constituent 
soundsj  and  connecting  these  with  the  elementary  or 
alphabetical  letters.  As  an  irregularly  spelt  language, 
there  is  still  something  of  the  Chinese  necessity  for 
taking  each  word  by  itself;  we  have  to  learn  to  pro- 
nounce '  rough '  and  '  through,'  '  faculties '  and  '  facilities,' 
by  looking  at  the  words  as  wholes,  and  not  by  infer- 
ring from  one  to  the  other,  or  from  the  powers  of  the 
separate  letters. 

The  first  act  of  reading  is  to  distinguish  the  letters 
by  the  eye,  and  especially  those  that  are  nearly  alike. 
Here  we  fall  back  upon  one  main  condition  of  the  discri- 
minative power — concentrated  attention  upon  the  differ- 
ence ;  to  secure  which,  we  may  magnify  the  difference 
artificially. 

With  the  visible  alphabetic  characters  or  letters  we 
must  connect  their  names  or  vocal  representatives,  in 
order  to  speak  about  them,  and  with  a  view  to  the  future 
stage  of  spelling. 

The  fixing  of  the  visible  impressions  of  the  alphabet 
is  hastened  if  the  pupil  is  sufficiently  advanced  in  the 
power  of  the  hand  to  draw  the  letters  with  chalk,  or  with 
slate  pencil.  It  need  not  take  long  to  distinguish  and 
name  the  characters. 

Now  commences  the  difficulty — how  to  deal  with 
words.  As  these  are  made  up  of  letters,  it  seems  natural 
to  jump  from  the  sounds  of  the  letters  to  the  sounds  of 
their  combinations  ;  after  knowing/,  u,  /,  the  child  may 
be  expected,  on  seeing  '  put,'  to  pronounce  it  accordingly. 


240  METHODS  :— READING. 

This  might  be  the  case,  if  the  letters  separately  could 
be  sounded  exactly  as  they  are  in  combination ;  which 
is  true  of  the  vowels  (allowance  being  made  for  our 
irregular  spelling)  but  not  of  the  consonants,  as  we 
cannot  pronounce  a  consonant  without  a  vowel,  more 
especially  the  abrupter  consonants,/,  /,  k,  b,  d,  &c.  The 
liquids,  /,  m,  n,  r,  and  the  sibilants,  are  pronouncable 
without  consonants  ;  but  in  giving  them  names,  we  still 
use  a  particular  vowel,  em,  ar,  ess.  The  pupil  must  be 
made  aware  as  early  as  possible  of  this  circumstance, 
by  being  initiated  and  practised  in  the  effect  of  the 
consonants  as  they  occur  in  words  ;  a  thing  that  in- 
evitably happens  sooner  or  later,  so  that  learners  cease 
to  be  misled  by  the  sounds  used  for  merely  naming  the 
consonants.  A  little  practice  upon  easy  words,  pat,  put, 
pop,  tap,  gives  a  mastery  of  the  value  of/  in  composi- 
tion. 

Much  stress  is  now  laid  by  teachers  on  the  point  of 
beginning  to  pronounce  short  words  at  sight,  without 
spelling  them  ;  and  a  strong  condemnation  is  uttered 
against  the  old  spelling  method.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  methods  is  not  very  apparent  to  me  ;  after  a 
few  preliminary  steps,  the  two  must  come  to  the  same 
thing.  Of  far  more  serious  import  is  the  mode  of 
grappling  with  irregularity  of  spelling.  When  among 
the  earliest  lessons,  a  child  is  made  to  pronounce — 'do  I 
go — is  it  set  on,'  it  is  on  the  Chinese  principle  of  learn- 
ing each  word  seriatim,  without  inferring  from  one  to 
another  ;  the  o  is  sounded  in  three  ways,  the  i  in  two, 
the  s  in  two.  After  a  time,  no  doubt,  the  letters  are 
found  to  have  recurring  meanings,  and  inferences  from 
one  to  another  may  be  made,  with  a  certain  allowance 


SPELLING.  241 

for  two  or  three  possible  modes,  the  particular  choice 
being  decided  by  the  word  ;  so  that  the  Chinese  prin- 
ciple is  limited  but  not  abandoned. 

The  preferable  plan  seems  to  be  to  carry  the  pupils 
forward  a  certain  way  on  perfectly  uniform  spellings,  so 
that  they  may  get  the  idea  of  regularity,  and  also  the 
most  prevalent  sounds  of  the  letters.  This  is  not  so 
difficult  upon  a,  e,  i,  u,  whose  short  sounds,  at,  bet,  it, 
nut,  are  almost  uniformly  spelt  with  a  single  consonant 
to  follow.  Moreover,  the  irregularities  of  the  consonants 
could  be  kept  out  of  sight  for  some  time.  Some  notion 
of  law  and  uniformity  would  be  thus  imparted  at  the 
outset. 

For  the  long  sounds  of  the  four  vowels,  there  are 
usually  employed  some  additional  letters,  unfortunately 
not  in  a  regular  way,  but  still  serving  as  a  contrast 
to  the  short  sounds ;  as  came,  meet,  sign,  full.  These 
different  devices  should  be  classified,  giving  the  most 
frequent  first,  and  then  the  less  frequent. 

The  refractor}'  vowel  is  0.  If  when  our  language 
became  possessed  .of  the  sound  azve,  all,  a  vowel  charac- 
ter had  been  invented  for  it,  we  should  have  been  saved 
a  large  number  of  our  worst  spelling  anomalies ;  if  that 
could  be  done  yet,  it  would  be  our  greatest  phonetic 
improvement. 

The  modes  of  spelling  for  this  sound  may  still  be 
classified,  but  they  are  numerous  and  contradictory — «■//, 
fall,  call  {cf.  mall,  sh  11),  cause  {cf  aunt),  awe,  talk.  With 
the  short  sound  of  this  vowel,  got,  not,  rot,  the  system 
of  the  other  vowels  prevails,  but  with  exceptions — as 
God,  fob,  both,  loth.  Still,  uniformity  should  first  be 
taught,  and  the  exceptions  enumerated. 


242  METHODS  t — READING. 

The  real  difficulties  of  our  spelling  are  nearly  ex- 
hausted upon  our  monosyllables  ;  if  these  were  fully 
mastered,  the  anomalies  in  words  of  more  than  one 
syllable  would  not  seem  formidable. 

Notwithstanding  the  zeal  that  has  been  displayed  in 
the  work  of  phonetic  reform,  no  one  seems  to  have  gone 
through  the  labour  (not  small)  of  classifying  the  existing 
spellings  under  uniformities  and  exceptions ;  proceed- 
ing upon  such  classings  as  give  the  most  agreements 
and  the  fewest  exceptions.  Until  this  is  done,  learning 
to  read  is  not  made  so  easy  as  it  might  be  made.  The 
principle  of  minimizing  exceptions,  and  of  placing  them 
all  together  at  the  end  of  the  rule,  is  the  only  known 
principle  of  economizing  the  learner's  strength,  or  of 
reducing  the  Chinese  operation  to  the  narrowest  limits. 

After  the  very  best  classification,  the  attainment  of 
English  spelling  is  a  work  of  long  time  and  detail,  the 
result  of  combined  reading,  writing  to  dictation,  and 
extensive  practice  under  correction. 

Pronunciation  follows  in  the  same  course,  and  is 
usually  connected  with  reading.  It  can  be  taught  only 
by  teachers  that  themselves  pronounce  well.  It  is  con- 
ducted on  the  plan  of  attacking  the  prevailing  errors 
and  faults  of  the  children,  which  are  for  the  most 
part  local  or  provincial.  A  phonetic  spelling  would  be 
a  valuable  help  to  pronunciation. 

Good  elocution  is  a  still  higher  aim,  and  must  come 
later,  as  it  supposes  that  the  pupils  are  alive  to  the  mean- 
ing of  what  is  read  or  pronounced. 

Division  of  labour  requires  that  the  attention  should 
be  concentrated  on  the  act  of  learning  to  read,  without 
endeavouring  to  extend  the  bounds  of  the  pupil's  know* 


KNOWLEDGE   LESSONS   FORBORNE.  243 

ledge  in  the  first  instance.  The  reading  exercises  must 
refer  to  some  subject  or  other ;  but  the  proper  plan  is  to 
take  very  famiUar  and  easy  subjects.  Indeed,  the  subject 
matter  should  excite  as  little  attention  as  possible,  and 
the  visible  words  as  much  as  possible.  If  the  mind  is  to 
be  in  anywise  occupied  with  the  meaning,  amusement 
should  be  the  aim,  by  way  of  relieving  the  strain.  Some 
of  the  emotions  may  be  occasionally  touched — affection, 
power,  admiration,  indignation  ;  and  it  is  so  far  well  that 
these  should  have  a  good  moral  tendency ;  but  even 
moral  teaching,  if  fatiguing,  is  to  be  foreborne.  The 
little  lessons  about  cats,  and  dogs,  children  at  play, 
and  kindness  to  those  in  distress,  are  intended  to  give 
scope  to  the  emotions  of  children — more  particularly  the 
agreeable  patronizing  emotion — by  suitable  stories  and 
situations ;  and  this  is  the  reward  for  the  fatigues  of 
commencing  to  read.  In  themselves,  these  themes  go 
for  next  to  nothing.  Even  the  pretty  little  poems  are 
of  so  childish  a  character,  that  it  is  better  they  should 
not  be  remembered  at  all,  unless  as  part  of  the  stores  of 
the  future  parent. 

During  the  first  year  or  more  of  learning  to  read,  the 
extension  of  knowledge  should  still  depend  partly  upon 
personal  experience  and  partly  upon  oral  communication. 
There  comes  a  time,  however,  when  the  book  read  is 
regarded  not  merely  as  an  instrument  of  instruction 
in  reading,  but  as  a  vehicle  for  information.  This  is  a 
critical  moment,  a  new  start,  although  usually  disguised 
by  the  stealthy  way  that  it  is  brought  in.  The  situation 
is  one  that  needs  to  be  carefully  considered,  and  the 
conditions  of  success  fully  understood. 


244  METHODS  : — READING. 

Already,  in  discussing  Sequence,  I  have  alluded  to 
the  nature  of  the  progressive  lessons  in  general  know- 
ledge and  to  the  difficulties  attending  it.  We  may  here 
narrow  the  issue,  by  considering  what  things  to  avoid  as 
unsuitable,  or  else  unnecessary. 

Assuming  as  granted,  that  we  should  not  enter  upon 
matters  either  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  pupils, 
or  beyond  their  interest  at  the  time,  the  teacher  should 
avoid  interfering  with  their  own  spontaneous  course  of 
self  instruction.  A  parent  can  guide  and  direct  this  to 
a  good  result,  but  the  means  at  the  command  of  the 
teacher  are  much  more  limited. 

The  following  is  given  by  Mr.  Morrison,  as  an 
example  of  a  lesson  on  the  simplest  conceivable  subject, 
used  in  the  first  instance  for  practice  in  reading: — 

'  The  rat  sat  on  a  mat,  the  fat  cat  ran  to  the  mat,  the 
rat  ran  in-to  the  box.  Can  the  cat  go  in-to  the  box  .''  no. 
the  fat  cat  can-not  go  in-to  the  box.' 

Now  this  lesson  is  contrived  purely  with  a  view  to 
words  and  spelling,  and  although  the  words  are  put 
together  to  make  a  meaning,  the  choice  is  guided  solely 
by  the  aim  of  exemplifying  certain  vowel  sounds.  The 
early  introduction  of  the  '  cat '  and  the  *  rat '  to  the  notice 
of  children  is  due  to  their  being  convenient  examples  of 
monosyllables  in  short  a.  The  *  m  juse,'  the  more  usual 
object  of  the  cat's  activity,  is  kept  back  because  it  is  a 
more  difficult  spelling.  Now,  it  must  be  allowed  that 
the  relations  of  the  cat  to  the  rat  do  possess  a  natural 
interest  of  a  kind  to  affect  the  juvenile  mind.  Predatory 
pursuit  excites  us  from  the  earliest  years ;  and  any 
incidents  embodying  it  will  waken  up  the  feelings  and 
exercise  the  imagination  in  a  bloodthirsty  chase  ;  thus 


UNSUITABLE   EXERCISES.  245 

enlivening  the  dull  and  dreary  exercise  of  learning  to 
read  and  spell.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the 
subject  should  be  drawn  out  as  a  lesson  in  useful  know- 
ledge, by  turning  it  round  and  round,  by  making  new 
suppositions  as  to  the  relations  of  cat  and  rat,  and  asking 
the  pupils  to  say  what  would  happen  under  these  altered 
relations.  There  will  come  a  time,  and  a  place,  for  this 
sort  of  exercise,  but  the  choice  of  subject  should  then  be 
governed  by  its  drift  or  meaning,  and  not  by  the  words 
that  happen  to  clothe  that  meaning.  The  following  is 
the  line  of  examination  suggested  by  Mr,  Morrison  : — 

What  two  animals  does  your  lesson  speak  about  ?  Have 
you  ever  seen  a  rat?  A  cat?  Which  is  larger?  Which  is 
stronger  ?  Where  was  the  rat  sitting  ?  What  was  it  doing  on 
the  mat?  What  was  sitting  on  the  mat?  What  is  a  mat? 
Where  do  you  see  it  ?  What  is  its  use  ?  If  a  little  boy  get  h's 
shoes  dirtied,  what  should  he  do  before  going  into  the  house  ? 
The  mat  is  used  for — wiping  the  shoes.  The  rat  sat  on— a  mat. 
Was  that  its  own  place?  Where  should  it  have  been?  As  it 
was  sitting  on  the  mat  who  saw  it  ?  What  kind  of  cat  was  it  ? 
And  what  did  the  fat  cat  do  ?  The  fat  cat  ran — to  the  rat. 
(Describe  the  running — show  how  the  cat  would  sit  and  watch, 
and  then  bound  forward.  This  will  amuse  and  interest  the 
children,  and  keep  them  fresh  for  the  remainder  of  the  exami- 
nation,) Do  you  think  the  rat  would  wait  on  the  mat  ?  What 
would  it  do?  It  would— r2^«  away,  nm  away  to — its  hole. 
\Vhere  did  it  run?  What  is  a  box?  What  made  of?  How 
would  it  get  into  the  box  ?  What  must  have  been  in  the  box  ? 
You  see  then  the  rat  ran  into — the  box,  through — a  hole.  Did 
tlie  cat  go  into  the  box  ?  Why  not  ?  The  hole  would  not  let 
in — the  cat,  but  it  let  in — the  rat.  Would  the  cat  go  away  from 
the  box?  What  would  it  do ?  It  would^7f'a/<:/i,  beside  the — 
box^  to  see  if  the  rat — would  come  out,  &c. 

Some  of  the  criticisms   suggested  by  this   line    of 


246  METHODS  : — READING. 

questioning  belong  to  a  later  discussion  on  the  Object 
Lesson.  At  present  we  remark  that  if  the  intention  is 
to  base  the  examination  on  the  child's  experience,  the 
cat  and  the  mouse  would  be  more  suitable,  as  more 
likely  to  be  witnessed.  The  child  has  little  opportunity 
of  closely  inspecting  a  rat ;  and  even  the  play  with  a 
mouse  is  one  of  the  rarest  treats  of  the  child's  expe- 
rience. The  cat  with  her  kittens  would  give  a  firmer 
basis  of  the  actual  ;  and  might  comprise  the  higher 
situation  of  her  jealousy  of  the  dog's  attentions. 

But  the  main  point  to  be  insisted  on  at  this  stage  is, 
that,  while  it  is  right  to  compose  little  scenes,  situations 
and  actions,  to  relieve  the  dryness  of  reading  exercises, 
these  are  not  necessarily  suited  for  cross-examination, 
with  a  view  to  extend  the  knowledge,  or  to  sharpen  the 
faculties  of  pupils.  Any  meaning  that  may  attach  to 
the  compositions  used  for  learning  to  read,  serves  its 
purpose  if  it  slightly  amuses  and  interests  the  child  ;  if 
it  deposits  a  moral  or  a  fact,  so  much  the  better,  but 
this  should  not  be  insisted  on,  nor  should  the  teacher 
consider  it  his  duty  at  this  stage  to  impress  the  meaning. 
When  he  comes  to  that  part  of  his  work,  he  must  have 
compositions  expressly  suited  for  the  purpose,  and  not 
shaped  for  another  purpose  in  addition.  No  man  can 
serve  two  masters  ;  scarcely  any  composition  lends  itself 
equally  to  teaching  language  and  teaching  knowledge. 

I  do  not  maintain  that  the  attempt  to  improve  the 
knowledge  and  intelligence  of  children  should  be  post- 
poned till  they  are  good  readers  ;  but  I  hold  that  the 
exercises  should  be  disjoined,  and  grounded  on  different 
texts.  The  same  text  niay  be  used  for  both  purposes, 
but  it  is  too  much  to  expect  that  what  is  best  suited  fo» 


LANGUAGE   AND   KNOWLEDGE   DISJOINED.        247 

language,  should  be  also  best  suited  for  meaning.  Nor 
should  the  lessons  be  intermingled  ;  times  should  be  set 
for  each.  There  may  be  many  examples  of  'good 
thoughts  well  expressed,'  but  it  is  not  likely  that  the 
expression  and  the  thought  shall  both  fall  in  at  the  same 
stage  of  the  pupil's  progress. 

The  discussion  of  Method,  if  taken  in  the  usual 
course,  would  lead  us  next  to  Arithmetic,  Grammar, 
Geography,  History,  among  elementary  studies ;  for  the 
higher  studies,  Languages  (foreign)  and  Sciences.  It  is 
desirable,  however,  to  consider,  with  some  degree  of 
closeness,  the  Object  Lesson,  which  is  the  precursor  to 
the  more  systematic  handling  of  the  various  branches  of 
natural  knowledge,  and,  from  its  undefined  character,  is 
more  apt  to  run  in  unprofitable  channels.  The  Object 
Lesson  is  exemplified  in  the  Standard  Reading  Books, 
and  the  teacher  may  strictly  follow  what  is  there  pro- 
vided for  him ;  but  he  is  also  directed  to  give  such 
lessons  from  his  own  invention. 

THE   OBJECT  LESSON. 

The  Object  Lesson  is  made  to  range  over  all  the 
utilities  of  life,  and  all  the  processes  of  nature.  It 
begins  upon  things  familiar  to  the  pupils,  and  enlarges 
the  conceptions  of  these,  by  filling  in  unnoticed  qualities. 
It  proceeds  to  things  that  have  to  be  learnt  even  in  their 
primary  aspect  by  description  or  diagram ;  and  ends  with 
the  more  abstruse  operations  of  natural  forces. 

The  dangers  attending  it  are: — (i),  Superfluous 
communication,  or  the  occupying  of  time  with  what  the 
children  quite  well  know,  <or  will  soon  know  of  their  own 
18 


248  METHODS:— THE  OBJECT   LESSON. 

accord,  by  observation  and  interchange  of  thoughts  with 
parents  and  companions.  (2).  Assuming  what  is  not  as 
yet  intelligible  to  the  pupils,  or  not  sufficiently  so  to 
be  a  stepping-stone  to  higher  knowledge :  an  error  apt 
to  be  committed  in  every  stage  of  teaching.  (3),  Un- 
seasonable and  uncontrolled  digressions;  this  evil  we 
shall  have  to  put  in  the  strongest  light.  (4).  Absence  of 
consecutive  arrangement ;  and,  generally,  of  instructive 
relationships,  and  mutual  lights. 

Antecedent  to  all  considerations  of  choice,  arrange- 
ment, and  handling  of  such  lessons — are  the  fundamental 
laws  of  explanation  by  Agreement  and  Contrast,  the  laws 
of  the  Abstract  Idea,  and  the  course  from  the  Known  to 
the  Unknown,  the  Simple  to  the  Complex,  the  Empirical 
to  the  Rational.  The  mind  of  every  intellectual  instruc- 
tor needs  to  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  all  these  matters, 
so  that  they  may  become  omnipresent  in  the  details  of 
teaching. 

To  la}'-  down  the  proprieties  of  the  Object  Lesson, 
we  must  endeavour  first  to  classify  its  different  forms, 
and  to  ascertain  its  exact  purpose  under  each.  An 
order  or  sequence  is  assigned  corresponding  to  the  age 
of  pupils,  and  this  order  supposes  that  the  kinds  should 
be  well  classed. 

Pestalozzi,  one  of  the  first  propounders  of  the  Object 
Lesson,  regarded  it  merely  as  the  proper  way  of  teach- 
ing the  use  of  Language,  that  is  to  say,  it  provided  the 
means  of  knowing  the  things  expressed  by  words.  But 
knowledge  has  a  prior  and  independent  value,  and  is 
not  an  incident  of  correct  speaking ;  and  we  must  look 
at  the  lesson  simply  as  a  mode  of  imparting  knowledge. 

The  Object  Lesson  passes  by  Arithmetic  or  Number, 


FIELDS  OF  THE  OBJECT   LESSON.  249 

the  exercises  in  Form  and  Colour,  Geography  and  His- 
tory. It  introduces  the  pupil  to  three  great  fields — 
Natural  History,  Physical  Science,  and  the  Useful  Arts, 
or  common  Utilities  of  every-day  life.  The  most  usual 
direction  for  conducting  it  is,  first  to  point  out  the  ap- 
pearance or  sensible  qualities  of  an  object,  and  next 
to  specify  its  uses.  A  better  rule  would  be,  to  give  the 
uses  first  (after  the  more  obvious  aspects) ;  use  is  quality 
in  act,  and  our  interest  in  things  is  first  excited  by  their 
active  agency.  Take,  as  an  example,  a  piece  of  glass. 
This  is  held  up  to  the  view  of  the  pupils.  They  have 
already  had  occasion  to  see  and  handle  glass ;  they 
know  it  in  windows,  in  table  glasses,  in  bottles,  in 
looking-glasses  and  ornaments.  It  is  purely  a  thing  of 
use ;  it  is  brought  into  existence  for  use.  What,  then, 
should  a  teacher  say  about  it .-'  He  need  not  tell  that  it 
is  hard,  smooth,  and  allows  things  to  be  seen  through  it; 
all  this  the  pupils  know.  They  also  know  that  if  it  is 
struck  or  falls,  it  is  broken,  cracked  or  splintered  ;  and, 
further,  that  splinters  cut  the  hands  very  readily.  As 
an  exercise  of  sense  perception,  there  seems  nothing  to 
be  added  to  the  knowledge  of  any  child  of  five  or  six  on 
the  ordinary  properties  of  glass.  The  teacher  may  get 
into  a  conversation  with  them,  and  make  them  express 
their  knowledge  in  words,  so  as  to  show  that  they  have 
been  observant,  and  farther  that  they  have  names  for 
embodying  and  communicating  their  experience.  This 
much  may  be  valuable  as  a  stimulus  to  observe,  and  as 
an  exercise  in  language. 

The  perplexity  begins,  when  it  is  proposed  to  extend 
this  sense  knowledge,  by  the  recital  of  unobvious  or 
hidden  properties.     The  teacher  has  now  twenty  outlets, 


250  METHODS  : — THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

and  which  shall  he  choose  ?     Is  it  to  be  the  uses  that  h*e 
outside  the  scope  of  familiar  observation  ?     Is  it  to  be 
the  manufacture  of  glass, — including  the  materials  that 
enter  into  it,  and  the  various  species  of  glass  ?     Is  it  to 
be  the  discovery  and  history  of  glass  ?     Is  it  to  be  the 
optical  properties  of  glass  ?     Is  it  to  be  the  single  pro- 
perty  of  transparency,  illustrated  by  comparison   with 
other   substances  ?     A  teacher    will    no   doubt  feel  at 
once,  that  to  a  particular  set  of  pupils  some  of  these 
things  would  be  wholly  unintelligible.     There  are,  how- 
ever, some  points  that  would  be  within  their  capacity, 
and  their  interest ;  such   as,  the  uses  of  glass  beyond 
their  own  familiar  circle,  and  perhaps  the  circumstances 
of  its  origin  and  history  ;  also  its   component  materials 
nakedly  stated  without  the  chemical  laws  of  their  union. 
Still,  even  among  the  intelligible  outgoings,  there 
must  be  a  ground  of  preference ;  some  of  them,  it  might 
be  quite  unprofitable  to  pursue  at  length.     Uses  that  are 
mere  repetition,  or  that  inspire  no  interest,  that  might 
never   be  copied,   that  illustrate  no   important  law  of 
science — may  be  left  without  notice.     The  only  point 
that  readily  occurs  to  me  as  worth  dwelling  upon  is  the 
leading  circumstance  in  the  manufacture  of  glass,  the 
heating  of  sand  in  contact  with  soda  or  ashes.    To  pupils 
of  seven  or  eight,  enough  might  be  said  upon  this  point, 
to  awaken  interest,  and  to  impress  a  fact  for  after  use 
in  teaching  science.     The  striking  changes  produced  by 
chemical  combinations  are  highly  sensational  and  can 
be  firmly  lodged  in  the  memory,  in  set  examples,  before 
the  theory  is  understood,  and  as  a  preparation  for  it.     In 
that  case,  however,  glass  would  not  be  at  the  beginning 
of  a  series  of  object  lessons ;  it  would  need  to  be  subse- 


INITIAL   PERPLEXITIES.  2$  I 

quent  to  'sand/  '  ashes,'  'soda,'  and  also  'heat,'  in  one  of 
its  more  recondite  applications.  This  is  an  example  of 
the  troubles  of  the  object  lesson,  at  the  beginning  ;  the 
thing  chosen  may  be  familiar,  but  what  is  of  interest  to 
add  to  it  may  bring  in  something  very  abstruse.  There 
is  but  a  choice  of  difficulties.  Confine  yourself  to  what 
the  pupils  know,  and  you  teach  nothing;  endeavour  to 
extend  their  knowledge,  and  you  land  them  in  the  un- 
intelligible. Every  street-Arab  knows  all  about  '  glass,' 
and  has  a  great  deal  of  other  knowledge,  which  perhaps 
occupied  many  of  the  school  hours  of  the  well-trained 
youth. 

The  only  mode  of  escaping  this  alternation  of  diffi- 
culties, is  to  look  before  you  leap — to  see  beforehand 
which  way  you  are  going,  and  whether  or  not  j^our  way 
has  been  already  prepared.  At  the  absolute  commence- 
ment, you  are  stopped  on  every  side ;  still,  it  is  expe- 
dient to  make  some  move,  and  the  safety  lies  in  moving 
only  a  short  way,  in  drawing  but  little  upon  previous 
knowledge.  This  very  proper  caution,  however,  does 
not  fully  meet  the  case.  The  real  remedy  lies  in  pre- 
arranging a  set  of  lessons,  such  that  each  shall  be  a  pre- 
paration for  the  following,  and  in  guiding  the  course  of 
the  tuition  by  reference  to  what  has  been  already  taught. 
This  cannot  be  done  with  perfect  rigidity,  at  the  age  of 
desultory  knowledge,  but  it  can  be  done  in  some  degree. 
A  substance  might  be  introduced  at  one  stage,  and 
followed  out  just  as  far  as  previous  knowledge  per- 
mitted ;  it  might  be  re-introduced  at  a  later  stage,  with 
new  expansions.  '  Glass '  at  first  would  be  noticed 
merely  for  observed  uses  and  properties  ;  to  these  very 
little   would   be    added.     At   a    subsequent   stage,    its 


252  METHODS  : — THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

manufacture  could  be  propounded  ;  and  still  later,  its 
optics. 

The  second  essential  of  the  Object  Lesson  is  a 
definite  purpose,  a  limitation  of  scope.  The  teacher 
should  consider  what  is  to  be  the  drift  of  the  lesion. 
That,  at  the  outset,  lessons  are  more  or  less  desultory, 
perhaps  cannot  be  helped  ;  but  they  should  gradually  be 
brought  under  some  of  the  '  Unities.'  Now  the  purposes 
are  various,  and  should  be  distinctly  grasped.  A  refer- 
ence to  any  of  the  usual  examples  of  Object  Lessons 
will  show  the  danger  of  putting  too  much  into  a  single 
lesson  ;  while,  apart  from  a  very  strict  consideration  of 
the  unities,  merely  keeping  the  new  information  within 
limits  of  quantity  would  render  it  safe. 

Let  us  take  one  of  the  usual  examples— a  bell.  For 
very  young  children,  this  may  be  little  more  than  an 
exercise  in  observation  and  description.  The  prelude 
is  the  incident  of  being  called  to  school  by  the  bell. 
Next,  a  bell  is  shown  ;  probably  most  of  the  class  have 
had  one  in  their  hands.  They  see  the  cup  shape,  they 
notice  the  clapper  hung  inside,  they  see  it  swing,  and 
knock  the  cup,  and  with  that  comes  the  sound.  It 
would  be  quite  enough  for  one  lesson  in  the  early  stage, 
to  trace  cause  and  effect  in  sound  by  the  knocking  of 
one  hard  body  on  another  ;  adding  a  few  parallel  facts 
gathered  from  the  pupils'  own  experience,  and  brought 
out  by  questioning.  This  of  course  is  nothing  that  they 
would  not  ultimately  know  of  themselves ;  but,  by  being 
brought  in  early,  it  may  be  a  stepping-stone  to  more 
recondite  truth  ;  in  fact,  a  first  step  in  the  ladder  mount- 
ing to  Acoustics.    As  to  the  many  occasions  when  bells 


A  DEFINITE  PURPOSE.  253 

are  used,  that  belongs  to  the  popular  and  amusing  essay, 
and  does  not  lie  in  any  line  of  mental  discipline.  Even 
the  metallic  structure  is  premature,  although,  at  a  later 
stage,  it  may  come  in  as  explanatory  of  the  loudness  of 
the  bell.  The  lesson  is  managed  simply  as  a  lesson  of 
cause  and  effect,  in  the  empirical  form,  and  although 
such  a  lesson  deserves  the  name  of  Science,  it  does  not 
pass  beyond  the  interest  and  comprehension  of  the  child 
of  seven  years. 

A  piece  of  chalk,  as  already  remarked,  has  been  con- 
sidered as  a  worthy  Object  theme  for  an  audience  of  full- 
grown  people.  Many  sciences  centre  in  it,  and  therefore 
it  can  be  the  starting-point  of  an  agreeable  excursion  in 
any  one  of  several  lines.  It  is  implicated  with  Zoology, 
Geology,  Chemistry,  and  Physics,  and  may  be  made  the 
occasion  of  stating  or  recalling  interesting  truths,.in  every 
one  of  these  subjects  ;  all  which  truths  are  lodged  in  the 
memory  by  their  connection  with  it.  It  is  also  impli- 
cated in  numerous  utilities  and  processes  in  the  arts. 
There  could  not  be  a  better  example  for  the  teacher, 
to  be  put  forward  by  him  on  successive  occasions ;  a 
limited  purpose  being  kept  in  view  in  each.  The  Zoo- 
logy and  Geology  should  obviously  be  very  late ;  either 
after  these  subjects  have  been  partially  introduced,  or 
with  a  view  of  introducing  them  for  consecutive  handling. 
What  could  be  given  separately  as  an  early  lesson  (which 
'the  Arab  would  only  by  rare  chance  attain  to),  would 
be  the  burning  of  chalk  and  its  equivalent,  limestone, 
in  a  kiln,  yielding  quicklime,  to  be  afterwards  converted 
by  water  into  slaked  lime,  and  then  used  with  sand  for 
mortar.     A  strict  statement  of  these  circumstances,  witli- 


254  METHODS  :— THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

out  any  digressions,  would  be  an  interesting  chain  of 
empirical  cause  and  effect,  to  be  one  day  used  in  ex- 
pounding chemical  and  physical  forces. 

When  a  substance  is  quoted  solely  and  simply  for  its 
'./se,  other  things  having  the  same  use  may  be  quoted  ; 
the  lesson  is  then  a  generalizing  lesson,  and  the  re- 
maining circumstances  should  be  put  on  one  side.  Thus, 
if  coal  is  introduced  to  teach  combustion  and  heat,  other 
combustible  substances  may  be  mentioned — as  wood, 
rags,  dried  leaves,  sulphur.  No  other  facts  about  coal 
should  be  adduced  in  this  connection,  except  perhaps 
in  the  comparison  with  wood,  when  the  common  origin 
might  be  just  mentioned.  The  topic  of  the  lesson  con- 
sisting in  the  single  fact  of  combustion,  all  further  refer- 
ence to  the  properties  of  heat  should  be  foreborne,  a.s 
belonging  to  a  distinct  lesson. 

Again,  a  lesson  exhaustive  of  the  uses  and  properties 
of  a  substance,  should  not  pursue  any  one  property  either 
by  expounding  its  laws,  or  by  quoting  all  the  other  things 
possessing  the  property.  The  end  is,  to  give  a  full  account 
of  all  the  characters  that  concur  in  one  substance — to 
group  or  totalize  its  powers  and  uses.  This  admits  of 
nothing  beyond  the  bare  mention  of  the  various  uses, 
with  only  enough  explanation  to  make  them  intelligible. 
Thus,  Lead  is  one  of  the  metals  (two  or  three  others 
being  merely  mentioned),  heavy  (ten  times  water),  soft 
(for  a  metal),  ductile,  melts  in  an  ordinary  fire,  does 
not  rust  like  iron.  It  is  used  for  making  pipes  and  cis- 
terns, for  bullets,  for  solder.  The  uses  might  to  some 
extent  be  connected  with  the  properties,  but  to  do  so  is  to 
trench  on  lessons  of  property  as  cause  and  effect.  This 
is  an  incipient  lesson  in  Mineralogy,  and  should  be  fol- 


THE  VEGETABLE  KINGDOM.  255 

lowed  up  by  some  other  metals,  treated  in  the  same  style, 
and  by  a  few  substances  not  metals.  There  might  inter- 
vene lessons  following  out  distinct  properties  throughout 
different  substances,  as  weight,  ductility,  corrosibility ; 
the  contrasting  or  negative  examples  being  also  quoted. 
By  such  lessons  the  properties  would  be  more  fully  com- 
prehended, when  spoken  of  in  connection  with  any  one 
body ;  but  the  two  kinds  of  lessons  should  never  run 
into  one. 

Lessons  on  flowers,  plants,  shrubs,  trees,  as  exempli- 
fying the  vegetable  kingdom,  come  under  the  principles 
now  illustrated;  they  should  fall  into  an  order  tending 
to  some  definite  purpose,  and  each  lesson  should  be  a 
unity.  When  first  adduced,  specimens  of  flowers  and 
plants  serve  a  sufficient  purpose,  if  they  bring  out  ob- 
servation and  verbal  description.  For,  although  they 
may  be  familiar  in  general  aspect,  the  pupils  have  not 
observed  any  one  thoroughly.  This  they  may  be  taught 
to  do,  and  also  to  name  each  part  of  a  plant — root, 
stalk,  branches,  leaves,  flower,  seed,  and  so  on.  Different 
plants  may  be  used,  for  the  discrimination  of  the  parts 
simply.  Then  comes  a  lesson  on  a  particular  plant— a 
daisy,  for  example — to  mark  the  forms  that  root,  stem, 
&c.,  assume  in  it.  Several  others,  including  known 
shrubs  or  trees,  are  next  adduced.  Then  might  come 
a  generalized  lesson  on  trees,  grounded  on  a  few  known 
examples  ;  going  no  farther  in  the  first  instance  than 
to  indicate  the  notable  features  of  magnitude,  strength, 
hold  in  the  ground,  branching,  leaves,  and  flowers.  The 
growth,  maturity  and  death  of  trees,  would  need  several 
separate  lessons  ;  and  distinct  from  these  would  be  the 
sources  of  nourishment,  by  the  roots  and  the  leaves  ; 


256  METHODS  :— THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

whidi  would  be  an  empirical  lesson  in  advance  of  the 
science  of  Vegetable  Physiology. 

Before  including  animals  among  the  examples,  I  will 
give  the  third  law  of  the  Object  Lesson,  which  has  re- 
ference to  its  use  in  adding  to  the  store  of  concrete  con- 
ceptions :  this  is  commonly  expressed  by  saying  that  it 
cultivates  or  enlarges  the  Conceptive  Faculty  or  the  Ima- 
gination. Basing  upon  what  the  child  already  knov/s  and 
conceives,  unknown  objects  may  be  pictured  forth,  and 
so  laid  hold  of,  as  permanent  imagery  for  after  uses.  It 
is  thus  that  children  may  be  made  to  conceive  in  a  dim 
form,  the  camel  of  the  desert,  the  palm  tree,  the  Pyra- 
mids of  Egypt.  Now,  as  far  as  the  power  of  conceiving 
goes,  there  is  not  so  much  evil  in  being  desultory;  a  ram- 
bling style  may  favour  the  culture  of  this  faculty.  Any- 
thing that  makes  an  impression,  makes  a  recollection. 

But  a  teacher  may  readily  overrate  his  power  of 
adding  to  the  stores  of  concrete  conceptions  by  means 
of  description,  and  may  still  more  readily  mistake  the 
bearing  of  the  object  lesson  on  this  acquirement.  The 
earliest  display  of  the  power  of  obtaining  new  concep- 
tions of  things  not  experienced  is  strongly,  not  to  say 
grossly,  anthropomorphic ;  and  is  the  result  of  piquant 
narrative.  A  cold  lesson  on  lead,  or  on  glass,  on  a  soap- 
bubble,  or  on  clouds,  does  little  for  the  power  of  conceiv- 
ing the  absent  concrete  ;  its  chief  agency  is  to  impress 
the  known  more  fully  and  clearly,  and  thus  to  prepare  for 
the  future  operation  of  figuring  the  unknown.  Indeed 
it  is  only  at  a  very  advanced  stage,  when  the  object 
lesson  is  swallowed  up  in  the  methodical  study  of  Geo- 
graphy and  History,  that  it  can  be  properly  mentioned 
as  an  aid  to  the  increase  of  conceptions  formed  by  the 


LESSONS  ON  ANIMALS.  257 

mind's  own  force  of  combining  the  unknown  out  of  the 
known.  The  only  seeming  exception  to  this  view  will 
come  out  presently,  in  dealing  with  the  examples  taken 
from  animals.  It  is  in  this  class  that  the  licence  of 
digression  runs  wildest.  In  proportion  as  the  characters 
of  the  humblest  animal  exceed  the  utmost  that  can  be 
said  of  either  mineral  or  plant,  the  teacher's  selection 
needs  the  control  of  a  methodical  procedure. 

The  first  introduction  of  animals  in  lessons  generally 
turns  upon  their  broad  mental  characteristics,  which  are 
intelligible  to  every  child  ;  their  search  for  food,  their 
victimizing  other  animals  for  the  purpose,  their  amiable 
traits  as  regards  their  young,  their  human  attachments. 
A  short  narrative  framed  to  bring  out  these,  with  the 
interest  of  a  plot,  is  both  engrossing  and  impressive, 
and  is  readily  received  by  the  memory.  By  virtue 
of  such  interest  the  form  and  physiognomy  of  animals 
is  stamped  on  the  mind.  If  the  teacher  is  cautious,  he 
may  make  a  start  from  here,  and  travel  into  some  of 
the  minutiae  of  the  natural  history  of  the  animal,  as  its 
claws,  its  teeth,  its  hair,  its  wool,  its  feathers,  and  may 
render  these  still  more  familiar.  To  proceed  beyond 
this  point,  he  will  have  to  make  a  choice  of  ways,  ex- 
actly as  with  the  plant,  but  with  still  greater  embarras. 
There  is  the  same  amount  of  peril,  in  both  cases,  the 
attempt  at  comparison  with  other  animals,  either  gene- 
rically  related — as  the  cat,  tiger,  lion — or  more  distant — 
as  when  the  cat  and  dog  are  compared.  Comparison 
should  not  begin  without  adequate  preparation,  that  is, 
without  the  previous  mention  of  the  most  suitable  in- 
stances ;  and  when  it  is  made,  it  should  be  rigid,  thorough, 
and  to  the  point:  it  should  aim  at  forming  a  class,  with 


i$S  methods: — the  object  lesson. 

class  attributes,  to  the  neglect  of  the  differences  between 
the  several  members  of  the  class. 

As  in  the  plant,  the  other  method  and  the  method 
that  is  prior  in  order,  is  Individuality,  or  the  mention  of 
particular  characters,  without  running  comparisons  or 
contrasts,  and  with  only  so  much  expansion  as  amounts 
to  being  intelligible.  In  describing  the  rooks  and  their 
rookery,  for  example,  it  is  very  well  to  state  their 
manner  of  feeding,  their  coupling  to  build  their  nests, 
their  associating  in  multitudes  and  behaving  like  a 
society.  All  this  belongs  to  the  individual  subject ;  but 
it  is  a  misplaced  digression  to  be  led  off  to  social  animals 
generally,  as  bees,  ants,  and  beavers.  That  is  a  theme  by 
itself — the  theme  of  Generality^ to  be  taken  up  after  due 
preparation.  It  should  be  preceded  by  the  detail  of  the 
most  remarkable  examples,  and  discussed  solely  with  a 
view  of  comparison  and  contrast  of  the  different  species. 

In  the  individual  descriptions,  a  passing  allusion  may 
be  made  to  another  species  (especially  if  already  brought 
under  the  notice  of  the  pupils),  but  it  should  be  merely 
illustrative  of  a  meaning,  and  should  not  be  pursued. 

To  exemplify  the  several  maxims  governing  the  Ob- 
ject Lesson,  I  will  take  the  example  of  the  Camel.  This 
animal  has  not  been  seen  by  the  pupils,  but  they  will 
be  shown  the  picture  of  it.  It  should  not  be  an  early 
example.  The  more  familiar  home  animals  of  the  use- 
ful and  domesticated  kind, — including,  the  horse,  ass, 
cow,  sheep,  deer,  &c. — should  precede.  We  are  not 
bound  to  the  strict  order  of  a  Zoological  description,  yet 
there  is  a  method  to  be  observed  in  bringing  forward  the 
points.  First,  the  camel  may  be  designated  as  a  beast  of 
burden  ;  that  is  not  only  a  comprehensive  circumstance, 


EXAMPLE  OF  THE  CAMEL.  259 

the  key  to  much  that  follows,  but  it  recognizes  use  as 
property  in  act.  A  very  briefly  stated  comparison  may 
be  allowed  to  other  animals  of  the  same  use — horse,  ass, 
reindeer,  elephant ;  but  the  property  is  not  to  be  dwelt 
upon  as  if  it  were  the  theme  of  the  lesson.  The  interest 
of  the  animal  turns  upon-  its  structural  adaptations  to  a 
peculiar  situation,  namely,  the  desert.  Here  we  have  a 
double  subject,  with  mutual  bearings ;  it  is  a  case  of 
correlation  where  the  order  is  not  absolute.  We  may, 
however,  begin  with  the  situation,  that  is,  with  the  desert, 
but  may  describe  it  only  so  far  as  it  concerns  the  camel;  we 
may  give  the  facts  or  features,  without  the  whole  chain 
flf  causation,  which  is  a  quite  distinct  lesson,  belonging  to 
the  strict  sphere  of  Geography.  *  In  many  parts  of 
Africa,  Arabia,  and  Syria,  there  are  large  tracts  devoid 
of  water,  and  of  vegetation,  except  at  long  intervals, 
the  surfai,e  being  dry  sand  or  naked  rock ;  the  occurrence 
of  water  accompanied  with  vegetation  makes  what  is 
called  the  "oasis  "  in  the  desert'  It  is  quite  extraneous 
to  mount  to  the  causes  of  the  water,  in  the  deficiency 
of  rainfall,  owing  to  distance  from  great  oceans,  and  so 
forth.  Next  is  the  form  and  structure  of  the  camel. 
The  smgularity  of  the  hump  concentrates  a  part  of  the 
external  description  ;  so  its  growing  smaller  in  the  ab- 
sence of  food,  as  being  a  reserve  of  sustenance.  Then 
comes  the  stomach,  which  in  general  make  resembles 
the  stomach  of  the  ox,  the  sheep,  the  deer  (called  the  ru- 
minating stomach),  but  difiers  from  these  in  being  able 
to  store  food  and  water  for  long  periods.  Feet  spread- 
ing, and  not  compact  like  the  horse's  ;  thus  fitted  for  the 
sand.  The  eye  protected  from  the  sand  that  blows  up 
in  the  desert.    The  knee  adapted  to  kneeling  down  for 


26o  METHODS  : — THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

the  reception  of  its  load.  All  this  description  has  its 
Interest  and  relevancy  solely  from  the  point  of  view  of 
use.  The  naturalist's  description  would  be  far  more 
exhaustive,  and  would  comprise  points  that  have  no  ob- 
vious adaptations. 

Hitherto  we  have  seen  in  the  Object  Lesson  a  mode 
of  approaching  the  Natural  History  Sciences,  as  Mine- 
ralogy and  Botany ;  we  shall  afterwards  see  its  application 
to  Geography  and  to  History.  The  three  maxims  that 
have  been  exemplified,  namely,  (i)  Sequence,  (2)  Indi- 
viduality, and  (3)  Generality,  are  directly  pointed  to  this 
class  of  lessons.  But  the  Natural  History  Sciences  lead 
up  to  the  Primary  or  Fundamental  Sciences — Mathe- 
matics, Physics,  Chemistry,  &c.,  in  which  are  found  the 
final  explanation  of  all  the  active  agencies  of  nature ; 
everything  expressed  by  power,  force,  causation — the 
laws  of  Motion,  the  forces  of  Gravity,  Heat,  Electricity, 
Vitality,  and  so  forth.  We  do  not  know  the  phenomena 
of  nature,  until  we  know  them  as  produced  and  pro- 
ducing according  to  their  general  laws. 

Natural  History  descriptions  contain  a  tacit  reference 
to  these  higher  powers.  A  mineral  has  specific  gravity ; 
that  implicates  the  great  power  of  Gravitation.  It  has 
transparency  and  refracting  power  ;  that  implicates  Heat. 
It  has  composition,  which  implicates  Chemistry.  But  the 
mineralogist  knows  his  business ;  he  merely  alludes  to 
these  great  powers,  he  does  not  set  them  forth  in  me- 
thodical exposition.  The  reserve  in  this  respect  is  not 
always  copied  by  the  Object  Lesson  naturalist ;  there  is  a 
tendency  to  rush  on  from  the  natural  properties  as  de- 
scriptive characters,  to  the  full  exposition  of  their  work 


APPROACH   TO   THE   PRIMARY   SCIENCES.  26 1 

ing, — to  make  Natural  Science  absorb  the  Primary 
Sciences. 

It  is  possible,  by  means  of  the  Object  Lesson,  to 
approach  the  Primary  Sciences,  namely,  Physics,  Che- 
mistry, and  the  rest,  with  the  view  of  explaining  Matter 
and  Motion,  Gravity,  Heat  and  Light;  but  the  mannef 
of  doing  so  needs  the  gravest  consideration.  There  must 
be  a  clear  disentanglement  from  the  Lessons  on  the  Na- 
tuial  History  type,  whether  Individual  or  General  ;  all 
the  more  so  that  there  may  and  must  be  points  of  con- 
tact with  these,  because  the  same  concrete  things  enter 
into  both.  Thus,  for  instance,  Lead  may  be  the  basis  of 
a  le,«:,3on  in  mineralogy,  whether  individual,  as  exhausting 
its  properties,  or  general,  as  under  the  class  '  metals ' ;  but 
it  also  comes  forward  in  physical  and  chemical  Science, 
under  Gravity,  Heat,  Chemical  Combination,  and  so  on. 
In  this  last  case,  however,  it  is  merely  one  example  of  a 
countless  number  of  things  that  are  equally  suitable  for 
expounding  the  great  physical  forces  ;.  Gravity,  Heat,  and 
Chemistry  have  an  unlimited  choice  of  examples  to  show 
their  operation. 

It  being  assumed  that  the  best  and  only  perfect  way  of 
explaining  the  primary  sciences  is  on  their  own  method- 
ical plan,  as  laid  out  in  a  course  of  Physics  or  Chemistry, 
the  question  before  us  is  how  to  manage  those  interesting 
anticipations  of  the  leading  doctrines,  fitted  to  the  age 
when  the  regular  course  cannot  be  understood,  paving 
the  way  for  that  course,  and  making  up  a  body  of  infor- 
mation valuable  so  far  as  it  goes,  even  if  the  pupil  never 
passes  through  the  final  curriculum. 

So  great  and  manifold  are  the  advantages  of  follow- 
ing the  regular  order,  that  the  teacher  should  always  be 


262  METHODS: — THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

looking  forward  to  the  time  when  the  advancing  intel- 
ligence makes  that  possible.  And  further,  he  should 
tacitly  keep  this  order  in  his  mind,  even  when  working 
on  the  seemingly  desultory  plan.  Thus,  among  the 
earliest  lessons  that  implicate  physical  doctrines.  Mo- 
tion, as  exemplified  in  visible  bodies,  should  have  a  chief 
place.  The  force  of  Gravity  should  precede  the  more 
subtle  forces  of  Heat  and  Magnetism. 

When  we  enquire  farther  into  the  principles  regulat- 
ing this  kind  of  teaching,  we  find  that  the  lesson  belongs 
to  \hQ  empirical  iorm  of  knowledge;  the  meaning  of  which 
is,  that  facts  are  stated  fully,  faithfully,  correctly,  but  not 
explained  or  referred  to  the  ultimate  principles  or  laws 
that  they  come  under.  The  phenomena  of  the  Tides 
can  be  described  fully  and  correctly  in  the  empirical 
form,  as  it  was  known  before  Newton  ;  while  in  the  early 
lessons  in  science,  the  pupil  cannot  be  made  to  under 
stand  how  they  arise  from  gravitation.  The  statement 
may  be  given  that  they  arise  from  the  gravitation  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  but  this  cannot  be  fully  shown,  or 
correctly  conceived,  except  by  the  pupil  that  is  pursuing 
Astronomy  in  regular  course,  after  a  due  mathematical 
preparation.  It  is  merely  confusing  the  mind  to  assign 
a  cause  in  vague  terms,  as  Gravity  or  Electricity,  when 
it  is  not  possible  to  make  the  working  of  the  cause 
intelligible.  Little  good  is  done  by  saying  that  thunder 
and  lightning  is  a  fact  of  electricity,  when  electricity 
itself  is  not  understood.  Still,  an  object  lesson  in  thun- 
der discharges  might  be  given,  which  would  comprise 
the  main  visible  circumstances,  together  with  the  atmo- 
spheric accompaniments  and  surroundings,  in  so  far  as 
conceivable  by  the  pupils  addressed.     The   antecedent 


EMPIRICAL   FORM   OF   THE   LESSON.  263 

circumstance  of  excessive  heat  in  the  weather,  the  ga- 
thering of  the  dark  cloud,  the  deepening  of  the  gloom, 
the  lightning  flash,  or  thunderbolt,  often  the  destruction 
of  buildings  and  animal  life,  the  booming  of  the  thunder, 
at  a  varying  interval  indicating  distance,  the  deluge  of 
rain — might  all  be  described,  partly  recalling  the  expe- 
rience of  the  pupils,  partly  awakening  their  minds  to 
watch  the  next  storm,  partly  extending  their  own  obser- 
vations by  depicting  the  usual  forms  of  the  lightning, 
and  stating  instances  of  its  effects,  but  not  embarking 
upon  the  theory  of  atmospheric  electricity,  nor  even 
naming  it,  further  than  to  say  that  they  will  at  some 
future  time  be  made  to  understand  a  great  deal  more 
about  the  phenomena.  Whether  or  not  the  teacher 
should  use  the  opportunity  of  bringing  forward  the  some- 
what easy  and  yet  interesting  and  intelligible  fact  that 
sound  occupies  time  in  reaching  our  ears,  depends 
upon  the  course  of  the  tuition.  Such  a  fact  might  be 
previously  brought  forward  in  a  lesson  on  Sound  and 
Echoes ;  if  this  were  so,  it  would  receive  a  passing 
reference,  and  an  impressive  exemplification  in  connec- 
tion with  the  lesson  on  Thunder.  But  as  regards  any 
lesson  in  Primary  Science,  the  great  caution  is  against 
overloading ;  the  pupil  must  not  be  led  to  suppose  that 
there  is  but  one  chance  of  explaining  half  a  dozen  na- 
tural laws  stretching  out  into  several  sciences.  Because 
all  the  sciences  meet  in  Water,  that  is  not  a  reason  for 
embracing  them  all  in  a  single  lesson,  nor  indeed  for 
attaching  them  to  that  one  object.  The  laws  applicable 
to  water  are  applicable  to  a  thousand  other  substances ; 
many  of  these  sufficiently  familiar.  The  Tides  might  be 
given  as  a  water  lesson;  but  we  may  just  as  easily  start  it 
19 


264  methods:— THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

under  the  name  *  Tides/  as  under  the  name  Water.  The 
most  suitable  designation  would  probably  be  '  The  Tides 
of  the  Ocean.'  Its  regular  place  would  be  somewhere  in 
Physical  Geography ;  but  it  might  be  given  at  a  still 
earlier  point  in  the  child's  course. 

When  choosing  an  Object  Lesson,  we  should  think 
more  of  the  principles  to  be  taught  than  of  the  text ; 
the  selection  of  the  text  is  only  the  second  consideration. 
We  must  not  be  dominated  by  our  text  Object.  We 
may  make  the  Ocean  the  text  for  a  lesson  on  the  Tides, 
but  we  are  not  to  be  led  off  into  facts  regarding  the 
ocean  that  are  unconnected  with  the  special  phenomenon 
of  tidal  action.  There  is  a  unity  in  the  subject  of  the 
'  Tides '  ;  the  unity  belonging  to  an  Object  Lesson  in 
the  primary  sciences — a  phenomenal  unity.  There  is  no 
unity  in  the  subject  of  the  Ocean,  until  we  have  first 
determined  what  use  we  are  to  make  of  it. 

The  texts  suitable  for  the  present  kind  of  lessons  are 
given  by  a  class  of  names  different  from  the  names  of 
the  two  foregoing  classes.  There  are  names  that  point 
to  natural  objects — as  water,  iron,  an  oak,  a  horse,  a 
star,  a  mountain  ;  such  are  the  starting  points  of  the  pre- 
vious lessons — those  in  Natural  History,  Geography,  and 
the  like.  There  are  other  names  that  call  to  mind  the 
processes,  powers,  and  operations  of  the  world — as  weight, 
heat,  dew,  attraction,  polarity,  respiration  ;  these  are  the 
names  that  give  the  most  convenient  start  to  the  science 
lessons  that  we  are  now  considering:  although  any 
one  lesson  might  be  associated  with  the  more  concrete 
names.  A  heat  lesson  might  begin  from  water  ;  an  elec- 
tricity lesson  from  iron  :  but  this  is  not  the  course  to  be 
recommended  ;  it  has  a  false  glare  of  simplicity.     Each 


EXAMPLE  OF  THE  ATMOSPHERE.  265 

lesson  should  be  taken  for  what  it  is,  and  connected  with 
the  name  that  best  indicates  and  circumscribes  it. 

The  'Atmosphere'  is  a  common  example  of  the 
Object  Lesson.  It  cannot  be  called  a  happy  or  a 
convenient  starting  point.  Nothing  could  be  a  worse 
policy  than  to  attempt  to  exhaust  (if  it  were  possible) 
the  natural  facts  implied  in  it — its  physical,  chemical, 
and  biological  relations.  We  could  merely  nibble  at 
them ;  we  should  teach  nothing  thoroughly ;  not  to 
speak  of  the  evil  of  perplexing  the  mind  of  the  pupil 
The  proper  use  to  make  of  the  Atmosphere,  as  a  text 
would  be  the  Natural  History  use ;  it  would  be  an  Indi- 
vidual or  concrete  lesson,  whose  properties  or  peculiari- 
ties should  be  simply  enumerated  as  Natural  History. 
Beginning  with  its  position  on  the  earth's  surface,  we 
might  give  its  supposed  height,  its  mass  or  weight,  its 
gaseous  character,  its  transparency.  We  then  go  on  to  its 
composition,  which  would  require  us  to  enumerate  Nitro- 
gen, Oxygen,  Water,  &c.,  with  perhaps  a  word  or  two 
to  render  these  as  intelligible  as  the  state  of  advancement 
of  the  pupils  would  allow.  We  should  certainly  reserve 
all  questions  connected  with  the  origin  of  the  water  con- 
stituent or  vapour,  which  would  carry  us  out  of  the  lesson 
into  a  totally  different  track  ;  we  could  simply  mention 
briefly  that  the  water  constituent  was  of  variable  amount, 
and,  while  in.  great  part  invisible  like  the  others,  had 
visible  manifestations  in  clouds  and  mist,  ending  in  lain. 
No  more  of  that,  if  we  mean  to  finish  the  lesson  in  its 
Natural  History  type.  We  then  go  on  to  a  similarly 
guarded  and  severely  curbed  enunciation  of  the  carbonic 
acid  constituent — its  amount,  its  character  (as  the  gas 


266  methods: — the  object  lesson. 

formed  by  the  burning  of  charcoal,  wood  or  coal),  iti 
function  in  supplying  food  to  vegetation.  There  would 
still  remain  the  smaller  constituents,  including  the  effluvia 
of  the  earth's  surface,  animal  germs,  &c.,  which  could  be 
simply  mentioned,  without  being  pursued. 

To  penetrate  deeper  into  the  mysteries  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, to  trace  the  numerous  laws  of  causation  involved 
in  it,  the  lessons  must  follow  other  tracks,  and  be  viewed 
in  wider  connections.  An  example  or  two  will  help 
to  explain  our  meaning.  The  primary  property  of  the 
atmosphere  is  the  fact,  not  apparent  at  first  glance, 
that  the  air  is  material  and  inert  like  the  visible  and 
tangible  bodies  around  us.  A  very  good  object  lesson 
might  be  contrived  to  exhibit  this  circumstance,  which 
possesses  the  interest  of  agreeable  surprise.  The  proofs 
and  illustrations  from  resistance  of  the  air,  wind,  and 
so  on,  are  well  known  and  highly  impressive.  But  this 
lesson  would  really  be  a  lesson  on  the  inertness  of 
matter ;  and  would  in  fact  have  for  its  proper  designa- 
tion— Matter  and  Motion.  As  resistance  to  our  energies, 
exhibited  by  solid  and  liquid  masses,  would  be  the  first 
circumstance  of  the  lesson,  the  illustration  would  be 
naturally  carried  out  to  air,  thus  establishing  the  mate- 
rial quality  of  the  air.  Then  as  to  the  weight  and  pres- 
sure of  the  atmosphere,  there  would  be  a  natural  alliance 
with  a  lesson  on  Gravity  or  Weight,  which  might  he 
made  intelligible  at  an  early  stage,  although  still  in  a 
considerable  degree  empirical.  It  would  not  be  among 
the  earliest  lessons  of  a  scientific  tendency ;  for  its^ 
adequate  handling  would  presuppose  the  globular 
form  of  the  earth,  and  some  general  conception  of  the 
solar  system.     Next  to  the  weight  of  air,  is  its  elasticity; 


EXAMPLE  OF  THE  ATMOSPHERE.  267 

this  would  come  under  a  mechanical  lesson  on  Elastic 
bodies  or  springs  ;  from  such  a  lesson  we  ought,  not  to 
omit  the  spring  of  the  air.  Yet  we  could  not  properly 
follow  out,  in  thq  same  lesson,  the  interesting  conse- 
quences of  the  spring  or  elasticity  of  air  combined  with 
gravity,  as  the  rarefaction  of  the  air  in  the  upper  regions ; 
this  would  want  a  lesson  to  itself. 

The  constitution  of  the  atmosphere  as  made  up  of 
Nitrogen  and  Oxygen  appeals  to  Chemistry,  and  to 
Chemistry  we  must  go,  but  on  some  other  occasion.  For 
the  present  lesson,  Oxygen  receives  a  few  suggestive 
touches,  yet  only  in  empirical  statements,  shaped  accord- 
ing to  what  is  known  of  the  pupil's  previous  course.  At 
best  such  statements  are  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory, 
if  not  even  misleading ;  the  only  safeguard  is,  not  to  be 
carried  away  by  an  attempt  to  explain  them. 

The  water  constituent  of  the  atmosphere,  with  its 
wonderful  transformations  and  its  perpetual  cycle,  is,  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  lesson  books,  a  favourite  topic 
of  object  teaching.  The  one  fact  of  Dew  is  the  more 
especial  favourite ;  although  in  point  of  difficulty,  it 
makes  a  very  advanced  lesson  in  Physics,  as  taught  in  a 
regular  course.  This  is  a  good  case  for  exemplifying 
what  to  do  and  what  to  avoid  in  the  Object  Lesson,  and 
may  help  us  to  see  the  necessarily  empiric  character  of 
the  early  scientiffc  teaching. 

Because  the  teacher  is  debarred  by  the  capacity  and 
knowledge  of  the  pupils  from  a  scientific  lecture,  it  does 
not  follow  that  he  should  be  incapable  of  giving  such  a 
lecture,  or  be  ignorant  of  the  place  that  the  subject 
would  occupy  in  a  connected  syllabus  of  the  Sciences. 
It  is  far  better  that  he  should  know  this,  in  order  to 


268  METHODS  : — THE  OBJECT  LESSON. 

know  why  and  how  he  is  to  depart  from  it.  Thus, 
in  a  course  of  Natural  Philosophy  or  Physics,  '  Dew '  is 
explained,  under  Heat,  which  subject  is  preceded  in  the 
course  by  Dynamics,  Hydrostatics,  and  Pneumatics.  A 
wide  basis  of  physical  knowledge  has  thus  been  laid  in 
the  mind  of  the  regular  student ;  in  particular  the  laws 
of  motion,  and  the  law  of  gravity,  have  been  applied 
fully  to  solids,  liquids,  and  gases ;  while,  in  the  subject 
of  Heat,  where  Dew  comes  in,  some  of  the  leading  facts 
have  been  expounded,  as  the  expansion  of  bodies,  lique- 
faction, and  vaporization,  and  their  opposites,  with  the 
doctrine  of  latent  heat.  Stored  with  all  these  prepa- 
ratory explanations,  the  regular  student  of  Physics  is 
introduced  to  the  topic  of  Dew  ;  and  the  teacher  still 
finds  a  good  deal  to  say  before  it  is  completely  mastered 
by  a  youth  of  average  intelligence.  Taking  all  this  into 
account,  we  should  naturally  despair  of  bringing  before 
pupils  of  ten  a  subject  that  fairly  tasks  the  powers  and 
the  acquired  knowledge  of  a  pupil  of  sixteen.  Such 
would  be  our  first  thoughts.  The  second  and  better 
thoughts  are  to  consider  what  limitations,  omissions, 
precautions,  the  altered  circumstances  impose  upon  such 
a  lesson.  We  begin  by  stating  to  ourselves  the  reasons 
for  making  the  attempt  at  all ;  namely,  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  young  mind  with  the  facts,  appearances, 
and  operations  of  the  world,  so  as  to  have  some  impres- 
sions that  the  regular  teacher  can  afterwards  work  upon; 
for  the  professor  of  Physics,  in  his  lecture  on  Dew,  would 
be  very  much  at  a  disadvantage  with  pupils  that  had 
never  even  noticed  the  wetness  of  the  grass  on  a  morning 
after  a  clear  and  rainless  night.  We  next  recall  the  cir- 
cumstance, that  cause  and  effect,  in  some  form  or  other 


EXAMPLE  OF   DEW.  269 

is  noticeable  by  and  intelligible  to  the  youngest  capacity, 
and  even  seizes  hold  of  the  attention  of  its  own  accord ; 
nay,  more,  that  the  youngest  mind  will  form  an  induction 
to  itself  of  the  conditions  of  any  startling  change.  Ever)' 
child  is  a  self-taught  natural  philosopher  in  such  matters 
as  the  fall  of  rain,  the  wetting  of  the  ground  and  the 
filling  of  the  water  channels;  and  will  reason,  from  the 
occurrence  of  wetness  and  rushing  streams,  that  rain  has 
just  fallen.  To  guide,  rectify,  direct  and  forward  this 
spontaneous  observation  and  reasoning  is  the  purpose  of 
the  teacher  in  the  lessons  that  we  are  now  considering; 
with  the  serious  drawback,  however,  that  the  perfect  form 
of  the  truths  cannot  yet  be  imparted  ;  and  that,  on  the 
way  to  the  perfect  form,  the  pupil  has  to  pass  through 
several  forms  that  are  imperfect. 

Before  applying  these  reflections  to  the  case  of  Dew, 
the  remark  is  significant  and  helpful,  that  a  century  ago 
Dew  was  not  understood  at  all ;  until  Black  had  ex- 
pounded latent  heat,  and  Dal  ton  studied  the  consti- 
tution of  the  steam  atmosphere,  no  satisfactory  account 
could  be  given  of  the  phenomenon.  Still  it  was  not 
entirely  unknown,  and  such  knowledge  as  was  possessed 
was  correct  and  useful.  This  shows  us  that  there  are 
forms  of  knowledge,  short  of  the  highest,  that  yet  possess 
value.  That  former  knowledge  of  Dew  was  empirical 
knowledge ;  and  the  knowledge  that  we  give  to  children 
in  advance  of  the  perfect  form  we  have  designated 
empirical  too.  It  is  so,  however,  not  by  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  as  it  was  to  our  fathers,  but  by  deliberate  and 
artificial  shaping  on  our  part.  We  know  the  real  solu- 
tion, the  rational  explanation  ;  but  we  withhold  it  as 
premature. 


270  METHODS: — THE   OBJECT   LESSON. 

Yet,  here  is  the  advantage  of  our  position ;  we  can 
use  our  full  knowledge  to  improve  the  empirical  state- 
ment, to  make  it  less  removed  from  fact,  and  more  full 
and  intelligible  for  its  immediate  purpose.  We  can  let 
drop  forecasting  hints  as  to  what  the  pupil  will  one  day 
fully  understand ;  we  can  even  tell  the  real  cause  in  a 
general  way,  while  we  cannot  point  out  all  the  steps.  It 
does  no  harm  to  complete  the  empirical  account  uf 
the  Tides  by  the  indication  that  they  are  due  to  the 
united  attraction  of  the  Sun  and  the  Moon ;  our  error 
is  to  attempt  to  show  this  in  the  detail  to  pupils  that 
are  incapable  of  abstract  dynamical  conceptions.  We 
can  give  them  a  very  valuable  lesson  without  an  over- 
vaulting  and  premature  attack  upon  the  citadel.  We 
engage  attention  and  observation  upon  a  great  terres- 
trial fact,  we  plant  a  large  conception  in  the  mind,  we 
give  a  proximate  explanation  of  a  phenomenon  of  per- 
petual occurrence ;  we  sum  up  in  a  generality  a  host  of 
scattered  appearances :  we  are  thereby  justified  in  put- 
ting forward  the  subject  as  a  knowledge  lesson  in  ad- 
vance of  the  pupil's  attendance  in  the  Natural  Philosophy 
class  room. 

To  resume  the  example  of  Dew.  While  the  lesson 
is  avowedly  given  to  those  that  cannot  understand  the 
reasons  or  explanations,  and,  therefore,  does  not  presup- 
pose all  the  knowledge  that  should  properly  go  before,  it 
still  needs  some  previous  preparation  of  mind,  and  must 
take  shape  according  to  the  supposed  knowledge  of  the 
class.  It  ought  not  to  be  given  without  certain  other 
lessons ;  such  as,  the  materiality  of  the  atmosphere ; 
the  three  states  of  matter  as  depending  on  heat — a  very 
good  example  of  an  empirical  lesson  ;  the  boiling  of 


EXAMPLE  OF    DEW.  2/1 

water ;  the  difference  between  gaseous  water  proper 
and  visible  vapour  or  steam  ;  the  drying  up  of  wet  sur- 
faces, and  of  ponds  of  water;  the  heating  of  the  air 
by  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  its  cooling  at  night  Such 
points  being  premised,  the  lesson  might  assume  this 
form:  -Water,  when  disappearing  by  drying,  becomes  a 
gas  diff"used  in  the  atmosphere.  The  atmosphere  does 
not  hold  above  a  certain  quantity.  What  is  the  conse- 
quence .''  Either  the  drying  must  stop,  or  it  must  be 
thrown  down  again  to  the  earth.  It  is  thrown  down 
in  the  form  of  water  as  rain.  This  is  the  chief  mode 
of  returning  to  the  earth.  Before  it  appears  as  rain, 
it  exists  as  clouds,  which  feed  the  rain.  Rain  comes 
when  the  air  is  cooled  by  the  vicissitudes  of  day  and 
night,  and  by  changes  in  the  wind  ;  the  great  fact  is 
coldness.  We  can  obtain  water  from  air  in  various 
ways,  if  we  cool  it  enough.  The  ground  becomes  cold 
at  night,  and  the  surface  is  wetted,  although  there  has 
been  no  rain. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  the  lesson  would  be  to 
connect  drying  with  the  heat  of  the  air,  and  the  return 
to  water  with  its  cooling;  to  impress  which  in  broad 
general  terms  would  be  quite  as  much  as  could  be 
done  in  one  lesson.  Obviously,  the  rain  and  cloud 
lesson  should  precede  the  lesson  on  Dew,  which  is  an 
exceedingly  subtle  consequence  of  the  general  fact 
The  reasons  why  dew  is  absent  altogether  on  some 
nights,  and  why  in  one  night  some  bodies  are  dewed 
and  others  not,  cannot  be  imparted  intelligibly  without 
a  distinct  lesson.  The  statements  might  be  given  as 
empirical  facts,  that  grass  and  wool  are  more  liable  to 
be  dewed  than  stone  and  metal ;  but  the  theory  of  sur- 


2/2  METHODS  : — GEOGRAPHY. 

face  radiation  and  of  its  differences  in  different  bodies 
should  not  be  foisted  in  for  the  first  time  in  a  Dew  les- 
son ;  either  it  should  have  occurred  in  a  previous  lesson, 
or  it  ought  to  be  entirely  withheld,  leaving  only  the 
empirical  statement.  It  is  the  very  essence  of  the  Ob- 
ject Lesson  to  be  empirical. 

In  an  Appendix  note,  the  niceties  of  the  lesson  in 
Primal y  Science  are  further  brought  out  by  a  critical 
review  of  some  select  examples.  To  this  is  added  a 
discussion  of  the  forms  assumed  by  the  Lesson  as  arising 
in  the  explanation  of  words  that  occur  in  the  reading 
books. 

Geography. 

The  aims  of  Geography  are  very  well-defined.  The 
conception  of  occupied  space  is  its  foundation ;  it  is  the 
all-embracing  framework  of  the  outer  world  in  its  or- 
derly arrangement.  On  the  great  scale,  it  gives  a  place 
to  everything,  and  peoples  every  place.  It  is  the  greatest 
task  of  the  pure  conceptive  power,  in  its  literal  or  matter- 
of-fact  working,  as  opposed  to  the  imaginative  or  emo- 
tion prompted  working ;  this  alone  -would  make  it  a  late 
study,  as  the  child  has  but  little  concrete  conceptive 
faculty,  and  that  little  is  disturbed  by  the  intrusion  of 
strong  emotional  effects. 

A  long  series  of  lessons  on  the  isolated  objects  of 
the  outer  world — implements  of  utility,  minerals,  plants, 
and  animals — serve  as  part  preparation  for  the  vast  geo- 
graphical field  ;  but  that  field  opens  up  an  entirely  new 
exercise  of  the  conceiving  power,  which  must  be  grounded 
on  a  distinct  line  of  observation  and  experience.  The 
simplest    objects    of    Geography — hills,    rivers,    plains, 


THE  child's   local  SURROUNDINGS.  2/3 

oceans,  cities — are  immense  aggregates,  while  the  idea 
of  the  science  is,  to  seize  in  orderly  array  the  multitudes 
of  these  that  make  up  the  surface  of  the  peopled  earth. 

For  introducing  the  elements  of  Geography  by  means 
of  object  lessons,  the  chance  impressions  of  a  child  of 
eight  or  nine  seem  wholly  inadequate.  It  would  be 
necessary  to  take  the  class  out  of  doors,  in  Saturday 
excursions,  to  mark  with  express  attention  the  surround- 
ing scenery  in  its  comprehensive  aspects,  and  to  conceive 
the  town  or  village,  as  a  whole,  with  form  and  parts.  It 
is  from  some  commanding  eminence  that  a  pupil  should 
receive  first  impressions  of  Geography,  if  the  subject  is 
to  be  taught  according  to  the  prevailing  wish  for  con- 
crete realization.  In  a  district  that  is  flat  and  mono- 
tonous, like  our  Eastern  counties,  there  is  scarcely  the 
material  for  geographical  conceptions ;  while  to  vast 
numbers  of  people,  a  notion  of  the  sea,  simple  as  that 
notion  is,  is  utterly  debarred.  Few  are  unpossessed  of 
some  notion  of  a  flowing  stream,  by  which  to  conceive 
a  river  as  a  moving  body  of  water ;  but  the  geography 
of  a  river  in  all  its  expansion,  demands  previous  ac- 
quaintance with  mountains,  valleys,  plains,  and  seas. 

Inadequate  and  difficult  as  the  propaideutic  may  be, 
it  is  creditable  to  the  schoolmaster  to  make  the  attempt 
to  force  attention  upon  the  actual  surroundings  of  the 
pupils,  aiid  to  work  these  up  into  conceptions  of  other 
places  differently  arranged, — to  use  the  experience  of 
sunshine  and  rain,  of  heat  and  cold,  of  snow  and  ice, 
for  conceiving  countries  where  the  hottest  days  at  home 
are  the  constant  fact,  and  others  where  ice  and  snow 
endure  three  parts  of  the  year.  All  this  is  the  legitimate 
culture  of  the  conceptive  faculty,  as  a  means  of  know- 


274  METHODS  : — GEOGRAPHY. 

ledge  and  truth  ;  the  chief  error  to  be  avoided  being  the 
premature  entry  upon  a  very  high  accomplishment. 

In  adopting,  for  a  lesson,  any  one  of  the  great  geo- 
graphical elements — for  example,  a  river — the  laws  or 
method  of  the  object  lesson  need  to  be  very  narrowly 
observed.  The  greater  difficulty  and  vastness  of  the 
conception  requires  still  more  peremptory  attention  both 
to  sequence,  and  to  the  unities.  The  point  of  sequence 
has  just  been  touched  upon,  and  ought  to  be  more  self- 
evident  for  this  kind  of  lesson  than  for  those  already 
described.  The  adherence  to  unity  of  plan,  as  against 
temptations  to  digress,  will  ever  be  the  hardest  task 
of  the  teacher  in  object  lessons,  and  it  is  most  of 
all  requisite  in  Geography.  Thus,  in  the  example 
of  the  River,  one  distinct  lesson,  and  indeed  the  main 
lesson,  in  the  geography  scheme,  is  to  conceive  the 
visible  aspect  of  the  flowing  waters,  in  the  main  stream, 
and  in  all  its  branches,  from  the  first  rills  emerging  out  of 
the  oozy  hill  tops  and  hill  sides.  To  make  up  one  visible 
picture  of  a  river  tree,  as  if  from  a  bird's-eye  view  of  its 
entire  basin,  all  collateral  explanations  must  be  resolutely 
withstood  ;  and  if  the  first  source  of  the  whole — the  rain 
— is  mentioned,  it  should  be  no  more  than  mentioned, 
while  all  the  numerous  relations  of  rivers  to  the  fertilizing 
of  the  land,  the  supply  of  water  to  cities,  navigation, 
and  so  forth,  should  be  omitted  from  the  primary  lesson. 
Hill  and  valley  are  already  assumed,  and  the  river  located 
with  reference  to  them  ;  the  final  debouching  in  the  ocean 
is  to  be  mentioned  without  being  followed  into  any  of 
its  consequences.  It  is  enough  for  a  week's  lesson,  by 
iteration  and  examination  to  stamp  the  mere  visible  plan 
of  a  typical  river  with  its  tributaries,  brooks,  rivulets,  and 


CAUSE  AND   EFFECT   IN   ABEYANCE.  275 

cascades.  All  comparisons  and  contrasts  should  be  re- 
manded to  a  lesson,  or  lessons,  on  Rivers  as  a  class,  with 
class  agreements  and  differences.  The  other  excluded 
topics,  and  forbidden  digressions,  are  matters  pertinent 
and  proper  to  be  known  in  connection  with  a  river ;  but 
each  has  a  place  and  connection  suitable  to  itself.  The 
ultimate  source  of  rivers— the  rainfall — belongs  to  the 
department  of  Physical  Geography,  or  else  to  the  physical 
science  of  Meteorology.  The  use  of  rivers  in  draining 
off  superfluous  water  at  some  points,  and  supplying 
water  at  others,  is  quite  a  different  department,  and  may 
be  subdivided  into  several  topics.  The  connection  of 
rivers  with  towns,  as  ministering  to  numerous  wants  and 
conveniences,  comes  in  for  full  treatment  at  a  late  part 
of  the  subject,  although  passing  allusions  may  occur 
in  a  variety  of  the  early  lessons,  as  under  '  water,'  which 
is  a  point  of  departure  for  numerous  lessons  on  the  ob- 
ject plan. 

Cause  and  effect  is  at  all  times  an  impressive  circum- 
stance ;  but  we  have  seen  that  the  efficacy  of  causation 
lies  in  bringing  about  an  effort  of  abstraction,  which 
interferes  with  the  concreteness  of  the  visible  picture. 
It  would  be  well,  once  for  all,  to  attain  a  good  pictorial 
impression  of  a  river  basin,  as  it  is  spread  out  to  the 
actual  view,  before,  and  apart  from,  contemplating  the 
numerous  exemplifications  of  causal  agency  that  it  sup- 
plies ;  all  which,  when  known  at  another  stage,  may  re- 
act on  the  concrete  conception,  by  supporting  some  of 
its  constituent  notions,  without  dissolving  the  picture. 
Thus,  assuming  the  rainfall  as  the  ultimate  river  supply, 
the  influence  of  rainy  weather  in  swelling  all  the  afflu* 


2/6  METHODS  : — GEOGRAPHY. 

ents,  and  in  enlarging  the  mass  and  impetus  of  the  final 
stream,  is  highly  operative  as  an  aid  to  the  picture. 

A  Town  is  a  very  suitable  object  lesson,  at  an  early 
stage,  as  contributing  to  Geography  and  to  other  pur- 
poses. There  should  be  the  same  adherence  to  the 
visible  or  pictorial  conception,  in  the  first  instance ;  the 
same  avoidance  of  digressions,  until  that  conception 
should  be  firmly  fixed.  Subsequent  lessons,  returning 
to  the  subject,  could  deal  with  the  reasons  of  town 
arrangements,  and  with  interesting  details,  under  specific 
heads ;  while  the  comparison  of  several  towns  would 
exemplify  the  standing  lesson  of  expounding  a  class,  by 
agreements  and  differences. 

The  pictorial  view  of  Geographical  subjects  is  supposed 
to  be  aided  by  sketches  from  nature.  But  here  we  en- 
counter a  new  danger  the  supplanting  of  the  original 
reality,  so  arduous  to  the  feeble  conceptive  powers  of 
childhood,  by  the  more  easily  comprehended  sketch. 
Young  and  old  alike,  on  seeing  a  good  picture,  are  apt 
to  rest  there.  Such  is  the  tendency  of  all  representa- 
tions, sketches,  maps,  and  the  rest.  The  most  valuable 
helps  to  Geography  are  models,  and  if  these  could  be 
multiplied  in  schools,  the  conceptions  of  the  general  form 
of  countries  would  be  vastly  enhanced  ;  while  the  subse- 
quent lessons  of  juxtaposition  and  relative  situation  would 
find  a  groundwork  of  remarkable  cohesiveness. 

In  the  manuals  of  Teaching,  much  is  made  of  the 
necessity  of  introducing  the  pupils  to  the  meaning  of  a 
Map,  by  showing  plans  of  the  school,  and  of  surrounding 
things  known  to  them.  They  are  in  fact  too  ready  to 
accept  the  map  as  the  subject-matter  of  the  future  le.s. 
sons ;   on  it  they  can  see  the  situation  of  countries,  the 


SKETCHES   FROM   NATURE. — MAPS.  277 

course  of  rivers,  the  outline  of  coasts,  and  everything 
that  they  are  expected  to  give  information  upon;  and 
to  make  them  rise  from  the  map  to  the  actual  conception 
of  the  ground  is  an  attempt  too  difficult  to  sustain ;  it 
can  be  done  but  rarely,  and  under  special  helps.  What 
the  map  cannot  show,  the  pupils  learn  in  verbal  state- 
ments, which  are  remembered  as  such. 

The  Compass  is  an  easy  object  lesson,  implicated  as 
it  must  be  with  the  course  of  the  sun.  It  is  a  higher 
stretch,  but  by  no  means  difficult  to  children  of  eight  or 
nine,  to  grasp  the  foundations  of  latitude  and  longitude 
in  the  form  of  the  earth,  which  may  be  quoted  for  this 
purpose,  without  involving  anything  beyond  The  idea 
of  laying  out  a  surface  into  compartments,  by  cross  lines 
at  equal  intervals,  is  sufficiently  easy,  and  is  important 
as  a  key  to  the  orderly  arrangement  of  the  things  con- 
tained. 

At  all  stages  of  Geography,  local  situation,  form, 
magnitude  should  be  a  distinct  effort  of  memory,  and 
should  be  held  in  the  mind  as  visible  facts,  grounded  on 
the  map  or  model.  The  impression  may  be  very  much 
assisted  and  strengthened  by  the  varied  information  re- 
lating to  cause  and  effect,  and  the  mutual  relationships, 
but  these  should  not  be  giv^en  until  a  certain  hold  of  the 
visible  order  on  the  map  has  been  secured.  There  is 
one  important  rule  in  all  teaching,  viz.  to  separate  the 
fact  from  the  reason,  and  to  describe  the  fact  first,  that  it 
may  be  understood  and  imbibed  as  such.  This  applies  to 
the  vast  subject  of  geographical  relationships ;  the  sur- 
face is  given  first  as  a  fact,  and  afterwards  considered  in 
the  numerous  links  of  dependence  existing  among  the 
different  elements  that  make  up  a  tract  of  country. 


2/8  METHODS  : — GEOGRAPHY. 

The  art  of  laying  up  in  the  memory  geographical 
positions  involves  very  delicate  manipulation  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher.  The  method  of  proceeding  is 
that  embodied  in  the  rhetorical  principles  governing 
Description  ;  the  chief  being  to  start  with  a  compre- 
hensive plan  or  outline,  and  to  subdivide  the  whole 
into  parts,  either  at  once,  or  by  successive  divisions, 
as  the  case  may  require.  At  the  stage  of  progress 
when  pupils  are  expected  to  take  up  the  map  of  Britain, 
they  are  competent  to  view  the  globe  as  a  whole, 
with  its  divisions  into  continents  and  seas,  and  to 
descend  by  regular  subdivision  to  our  own  country. 
The  operation  is  as  easy  on  the  large  scale  as  on  the 
small. 

The  School-books  give  in  unexceptionable  order  the 
topics  to  be  stated  in  connection  with  the  map  of  any 
part  of  the  earth — larger  or  smaller.  Of  only  recent 
introduction  is  the  method  of  describing,  that  pictures 
out  the  surface  in  orderly  array,  dividing  it  into  moun- 
tain ranges,  valleys,  plains,  and  giving  these  in  their 
proper  positions.  The  system  was  exemplified  on  the 
great  scale  by  Ritter,  and  first  carried  out  in  this  country 
in  the  '  Penny  Cyclopaedia.'  It  has  since  found  its  way 
into  the  smaller  manuals,  the  earliest  to  adopt  it  being 
the  manual  of  William  Hughes-.  When  the  pupil  is 
sufficiently  advanced  for  a  manual  of  this  kind,  the 
teacher's  path  is  made  quite  plain.  The  following  out 
of  the  position,  boundaries,  form,  magnitude,  and  gene- 
ral aspect  and  features  of  the  country,  into  the  conse- 
(juences  entailed  by  these  on  the  vegetable  and  animal 
products ;  the  enumeration  of  those  products ;  the  ac- 
count of  the  inhabitants,  and  their  industries  and  social 


DESCRIPTIVE  AND   PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY.        279 

condition  (Political  Geography), — are  all  sufficiently  well 
done  in  many  text-books. 

The  science  called  *  Physical  Geography '  is  some- 
thing intermediate  between  ordinary  Geography  and  the 
higher  sciences,  namely,  Physics,  Chemistry,  Meteorology, 
Botany,  Zoology,  and  Geology.  It  introduces  conside- 
rations of  cause  and  effect  into  Geographical  facts,  by 
selecting  and  stating  in  empirical  form  the  principles 
methodically  taught  in  the  regular  and  fundamental 
sciences.  A  course  of  Physical  Geography  is  subse- 
quent and  supplementary  to  proper  Geography,  while 
reacting  upon  it  in  the  way  that  causation  operates  upon 
the  knowledge  of  facts.  It  is  also  an  introduction  to 
the  mother  sciences;  but  until  the  principles  are  studied 
in  their  due  order  and  dependence  in  these  sciences  also, 
they  do  not  leave  their  mark  behind  them. 

The  teacher  is  tempted,  now  and  then,  to  bring 
under  the  proper  or  descriptive  Geography  the  scien- 
tific explanations  of  physical  geography.  Any  such  ex- 
planations should  be  very  short  and  allusory ;  the  two 
departments  should  be  by  no  means  intermingled. 

There  is  a  still  greater  temptation  to  include  History 
with  the  descriptive  Geography.  This  serves  a  purpose 
in  rendering  more  intelligible  and  interesting  many  of 
the  facts,  especially  of  Political  Geography.  It  should, 
however,  be  very  shortly  and  sparingly  done;  being 
confined  to  the  exact  purpose  of  aiding  Geography 
proper.  Attention  is  properly  called  to  features  that 
determined  great  historical  events,  as  a  preparation  for 
the  study  of  the  history,  but  without  dragging  in  tlie 
history  there  and  then.  There  is  a  separate  branch  of 
knowledge,  falling  under  Political  Philosophy,  or  Socio- 


28o  METHODS  : — GEOGRAPHY 

logy,  which  traces  the  dependence  of  the  social  arrange- 
ments and  social  development  of  mankind  upon  physical 
circumstances.  An  interesting  and  salient  fact  taken 
from  this  department  may  be  occasionally  noticed  in. 
geographical  teaching,  but  the  department  as  a  whole 
cannot  be  absorbed  into  School  Geography.  Like  Phy- 
sical Geography,  it  must  have  a  place  in  the  curriculum 
all  to  itself.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  merit  in  the  Geo- 
graphy teacher  to  forecast  this  application,  and  unobtru- 
sively provide  for  it. 

In  Geography,  much  has  to  be  learnt  as  words,  or 
little  more ;  the  verbal  memory  has  a  large  share  in 
the  acquisition.  In  this  view,  the  names  should  be  re- 
lieved of  dryness  by  various  arts,  as  well  as  by  endea- 
vouring to  impress  real  conceptions  corresponding  to 
them.  Yet  we  must  not  overrate  the  conceptive  power 
of  young  pupils,  in  a  subject  that  in  a  great  measure 
excludes  the  strong  emotions.  That  a  youth  of  ten 
should  conceive  the  plains  of  India,  with  their  vertical 
sun,  their  peculiar  vegetation,  their  animals,  and  their 
swarming  dusky  population,  is  not  to  be  supposed.  The 
best  arranged  series  of  object  lessons  cannot  prepare  the 
mind  for  all  the  characteristic  plants  and  animals  of  a 
tropical  region  ;  while  the  constructive  effort  that  gives 
them  their  places  in  the  landscape  is  possible  only  in 
the  full  maturity  of  the  mind,  and  is  even  then  attained 
by  a  very  small  number  of  persons. 

Geography  may  in  various  ways  be  connected  with 
the  exercise  of  drawing.  The  drawing  of  maps  im- 
presses a  country,  just  as  copying  a  passage  in  a  book 
impresses  the  author's  language  and  meaning.  In  those 
cases  where  drawing  is  followed  out  as  a  fascination  it 


EARLIEST  HISTORY  LESSONS.  28 1 

carries  with  it  an  interest  in  the  face  of  nature,  and  an 
enhanced  power  of  conceiving  the  pictorial  aspects  of 
the  world.  In  addition  to  which,  the  influence  of  poetry 
may  come  in  aid  of  the  geographical  concrete.  Tenny- 
son's '  Brook '  is  the  rendering  of  one  of  the  numerous 
affluents  of  a  mightv  river. 

HISTORY. 

The  transition  from  Geography  to  History  is  natural, 
when  History  is  conceived  in  its  highest  or  final  form. 
But,  as  a  subject  of  teaching,  History  passes  through 
many  different  shapes.  In  those  early  narratives  that 
seem  indispensable  to  the  interest  of  the  first  reading 
lessons,  being  almost  the  only  device  for  riveting  the 
attention  of  the  veiy  young,  we  have  the  initiation  into 
history ;  indeed,  the  persistent  catering  for  stories  brings 
the  teacher  at  last  to  actual  History,  through  the  inter- 
mediate stage  of  Biography.  In  the  lives  of  kings, 
statesmen,  generals,  and  other  great  men,  we  have  the 
materials  of  history. 

The  full  bearings  of  History  cannot  be  understood 
without  much  previous  knowledge,  and  some  experience 
of  the  world  ;  and  where  these  requisites  are  found, 
there  is  little  need  for  a  teacher.  The  great  historical 
works,  ancient  and  modern,  are  the  self-chosen  private 
reading  of  our  mature  years. 

The  earliest  lessons  of  a  general  kind,  in  connection 
with  History,  are  lessons  in  human  nature,  in  the  ways, 
actions,  and  motives  of  men.  These  may  be  very 
elementary  and  obvious,  as  in  the  displays  of  selfishness, 
of  devotedness,  and  of  the  various  other  forms  of  human 
passion.     When  such  passions  animate  a  nation,  or  a 


282  METHODS  : — HISTORY. 

collective  assembly,  they  are  facts  of  history.  It  is 
desirable,  however,  to  bring  before  the  older  pupils  the 
exact  nature  of  society,  as  an  assemblage  of  human 
beings  in  a  certain  fixed  territory,  for  mutual  interest 
and  security,  and  presided  over  by  a  head,  or  governing 
power.  Out  of  this  arrangement  comes  law  or  social 
obedience,  which  is  a  great  part  of  morality,  and  the 
type  of  the  whole.  History  presents  different  forms  of 
government,  and  different  kinds  of  laws,  and  in  its  nar- 
rative portion  contains  the  changes  more  or  less  violent 
in  the  relations  of  the  governing  body  to  the  governed. 
When  such  matters  as  these  are  exemplified,  history 
becomes  a  political  education,  as  well  as  a  moral  engine. 
Select  Object  Lessons  in  History  would  be  such  as 
these:  namely,  the  Constitutions  of  some  of  the  more 
primitive  nations,  beginning,  for  example,  with  the  Hill 
tribes  of  India,  and  leading  up  by  degrees  to  our  own 
Constitution.  As  a  select  lesson  the  topic  *  Revolution ' 
could  be  given,  handled  in  the  usual  two  forms,  par- 
ticular and  general,  or  comparative.  Some  one  Revolu- 
tion, as  the  French,  would  supply  a  lesson  in  the  particular 
or  concrete ;  and  a  comparative  view  of  different  revo- 
lutions would  be  given  apart  as  the  general  exercise. 

History  is  taught  in  the  two  alternative  and  mutually 
supplementing  methods — a  comprehensive  sketch  of 
Universal  History,  and  a  full  detail  of  select  periods. 
The  Universal  History  would  embody  a  Chronology, 
which  is  the  chart  of  history,  and  with  that  the  great 
leading  events  of  the  world.  A  somewhat  fuller  view 
might  be  given  of  Modern  European  history ;  and  a 
still  fuller  view  of  our  own  history.  Outside  of  this 
would  be  set  forth  a  minute  sketch  of  certain  epochs; 


KNOWLEDGE  OF   POLITICAL   SOCIETY.  283 

say  the  turning  epochs  in  our  own  history — the  Norman 
Conquest,  Magna  Charta,  the  wars  of  England  and  Scot- 
land, the  Reformation,  the  Commonwealth.  The  least 
satisfactory  compilations  are  those  that  are  neither  wide 
enough  to  give  a  general  grasp  of  the  world's  history, 
nor  minute  enough  to  exhibit  the  historical  forces  at 
woik. 

Ancient  History  has  been  hitherto  associated  with 
classical  studies,  and  thus  introduced  into  a  later  stage 
of  the  pupils'  course  ;  being  scarcely  at  all  mentioned, 
except  by  select  episode,  in  primary  instruction. 

The  teaching  of  history  almost  appears  to  defy 
Method.  Any  and  every  method  would  seem  to  apply, 
if  we  may  judge  by  the  variety  of  views  that  are  enter- 
tained. The  mistake  is  that  the  precise  situation  of  the 
teacher  is  too  little  taken  into  account.  He  brings 
forward  history,  in  the  first  instance,  not  for  its  own 
sake,  but  to  help  him  in  other  branches.  Thus  history 
shares  the  fate  common  to  many  compositions,  including 
the  Bible  itself  It  is  used  simply  for  learning  to  read 
and  spell.  It  is  the  vehicle  for  some  of  the  first  lessons 
in  right  and  wrong,  good  and  evil.  It  serves  the  use 
assigned  to  it  by  Goethe,  to  inspire  enthusiasm,  which 
might  receive  a  wide  interpretation,  and  imply  the  pas- 
sions generally.  In  all  this,  there  is  scarcely  anything 
of  the  distinctive  functions  of  historical  composition. 
The  rules  of  method  in  these  exercises  are  to  be  sought 
in  other  connections. 

History  proper  starts  with  the  idea  of  a  nation  or 
nations,  and  therefore  supposes  some  knowledge  of  the 
structure  of  political  society.  This,  I  have  remarked, 
must  be  the  theme  of  distinctive  lessons,  which  will  be 


284  METHODS  : — HISTORY. 

all  the  easier,  according  to  the  advancement  made  M 
Geography,  whose  finale.  Political  Geography,  is  the  true 
opening  of  history.  When  we  understand  what  a  nation 
is,  we  are  prepared  to  follow  its  movements,  changes, 
progfress,  and  these  are  what  history  has  to  record. 
The  narrative  of  events,  to  be  of  any  value,  should  pro- 
ceed upon  the  understood  characteristics  of  the  nation, 
and  should  throw  back  light  upon  these,  like  the  mutual 
play  of  structure  and  function  in  Biology. 

It  would  take  a  much  higher  acquaintance  with 
political  science  than  teachers  usually  possess,  to  conduct 
historical  teaching  upon  any  such  method  of  mutual 
dependence.  The  pupils  can  reach  the  heights  only  by 
very  slow  steps,  and  it  is  entirely  at  the  teacher's  dis- 
cretion, what  explanations  he  should  introduce  at  differ- 
ent stages,  or  at  what  stage  he  should  take  this  view  of 
history  at  all.  Leaving  'the  very  earliest  teaching  use 
of  history,  there  is  the  intermediate  use — as  animated 
chronology,  or  the  succession  of  the  great  leading  events 
of  the  world,  in  their  order  of  date  ;  which  is  the  setting 
of  all  superadded  knowledge.  The  teacher  can  easily 
rise  above  the  hard  enumeration  of  dates,  and  the  bare 
mention  of  dynasties,  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  and 
other  epochs, — to  a  more  exciting  narrative  of  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  more  momentous  events.  The 
four  ancient  monarchies,  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
the  rise  of  the  modern  nationalities,  the  Crusades,  the 
capture  of  Constantinople,  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  the 
Wars  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  advance  of  Euro- 
pean Colonization, — have  to  receive  their  fixed  dates,  so 
as  to  make  a  chronology,  and  to  this  may  be  added  some 
very  general  statements  of  the  agencies  that  operated 


HIGHEST  FORM  OF   HISTORY.  28 S 

such  vast  changes.  Historic  record  is  exceedingly 
elastic ;  it  can  be  given  justly  on  many  scales :  a  very 
comprehensive  view  of  the  rise  of  the  Greek  power  in 
the  ancient  world,  and  of  its  subversion  by  Rome,  may 
assign  the  reasons  or  causes  in  an  intelligible,  interesting 
and  correct,  although  greatly  abridged,  account.  To  be 
able  offhand  to  vary  the  scale  of  the  record  is  one  of  the 
arts  of  the  teacher.  He  works  upon  a  compilation,  gene- 
rally too  minute  for  his  purpose,  and  he  must  know  how 
to  contract  it ;  on  other  occasions,  he  may  throw  in  the 
intermediate  particulars,  so  as  to  enlarge  the  scale.  This 
is  only  repeating  an  operation  needed  in  Geography,  as 
well  as  in  other  things. 

The  highest  form  of  history  is  represented  in  the 
great  works  on  the  subject,  ancient  and  modern.  In 
these  the  structure  of  Political  Institutions  is  more  or 
less  fully  set  forth,  and  the  events  treated  on  the  deepest 
laws  of  political  cause  and  effect.  This  kind  of  history 
is  in  alliance  with  the  most  advanced  Sociology  or  Poli- 
tical Philosophy  of  the  time  ;  and,  as  it  is  too  extensive 
in  its  scope  to  be  made  a  branch  of  a  regular  teaching, 
except  by  selection,  the  philosophy  must  count  for  more 
than  the  narrative.  In  fact,  in  the  higher  teaching  of 
schools  and  colleges,  history  should  be  reduced  to  a 
science,  and  the  narratives  merely  cited  in  exemplifi- 
cation of  the  principles.  It  is  impossible  to  treat  of  all 
history ;  and  epitomes  or  compendiums,  upon  the  plan 
supposed  in  the  earlier  stage,  would  give  no  satisfaction ; 
the  only  principle  of  selection  is  the  exemplification  of 
the  theories  of  political  cause  and  effect.  The  historical 
details,  as  given  in  the  exhaustive  histories  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  in  the  ancient  world,  and  of  the  great  nations 


286  METHODS: — HISTORY. 

that  make  up  the  modern  world,  are  overtaken  after- 
wards by  private  reading.  To  repeat  these  in  Lec- 
tures would  be  a  waste  of  time,  and  must  be  at  least 
very  fragmentary;  and  unless  the  portions  actually  com- 
prised are  chosen  by  accident  and  caprice,  the  ruling 
consideration  must  be  'historical  causation,  given  under 
some  system  not  at  all  difficult  to  shape  in  the  present 
state  of  political  science.  The  questions  even  now  asked 
in  connection  with  history,  at  the  higher  Examinations, 
prove  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  a  suitable 
culture  for  the  most  advanced  stages  of  education  in 
this  department. 

Universal  History  having  grown  to  interminable  di- 
mensions, it  passes  the  compass  of  any  single  mind,  and 
would  be  a  useless  acquisition.  Like  many  other  subjects 
in  the  present  state  of  knowledge,  including  the  chief 
sciences — Mathematics,  Physics,  Chemistry,  Biology — it 
has  to  be  taught  upon  some  principle  of  selection.  This 
is  not  difficult  to  state.  What  has  already  been  pre- 
scribed as  representing  the  early  stage  of  history 
lessons,  is  supposed  first  of  all.  Next  is  the  theory  of 
Political  Society,  and  a  comparative  view  of  the  leading 
Institutions.  Lastly,  there  should  be  some  compact 
body  of  Principles  embracing  the  historic  forces,  with 
their  exemplifications  in  special  portions  of  actual 
history.  More  than  one  period  would  be  desirable; 
and  the  ancient  and  modern  world  should  both  be 
represented. 

The  fact  that  history  presents  no  difficulty  to  minds 
of  ordinary  education  and  experience,  and  is,  moreover, 
an  interesting  form  of  literature,  is  a  sufficient  reason  foi 
not  spending  much  time  upon  it  in  the  curriculum  of 


PERSPICUOUS  COMMUNICATION.  287 

school  or  college.     When  there  is  any  doubt,  we  may 
settle  the  matter  by  leaving  it  out 

A  very  searching  historical  enquiry  into  modern 
events  brings  out  such  a  variety  of  opinions  in  prac- 
tical politics  and  still  more  in  religion,  as  to  make  an 
obstacle  to  the  introduction  of  the  subject  into  the  higher 
schools  and  colleges.  This  difficulty  is  felt  in  Germany, 
where  professors  are  more  outspoken  than  in  England ; 
it  also  occurs  in  connection  with  the  Irish  Roman  Catho- 
lics in  the  Queen's  Colleges.  A  history  of  the  Reforma- 
tion could  scarcely  be  thorough,  if  it  offended  neither 
Protestants  nor  Roman  Catholics ;  a  history  of  the  first 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  if  it  dissatisfied  nobody, 
would  be  worthless  to  everybody. 

SCIENCE. 

The  Methods  of  teaching  Science  are  as  extensive  and 
various  as  the  field  itself.  They  involve,  in  the  highest 
degree,  all  the  devices  for  the  perspicuous  communication 
of  knowledge,  as  well  as  the  more  special  devices  of  im- 
parting generalized  or  abstract  notions  and  truths.  The 
teacher  is  usually  supposed  to  have  before  him  an  ex- 
position already  shaped.  He  may  of  course  modify  the 
pre-existing  exposition,  and  be  a  book  to  himself;  but  a 
convenient  line  may  be  drawn  between  the  art  of  writing 
an  expository  work  of  science,  and  the  art  of  bringing 
home  the  truths  in  actual  teaching. 

The  methods  of  inculcating  the  abstract  idea  were 
incidentally  sketched  at  an  earlier  stage.  These  methods 
are  complete,  as  far  as  concerns  the  central  fact  of  science 
— the  generality  or  abstraction ;  only  they  do  not  in- 
clude all  that  pertains  to  the  teaching.     Next  to  the 


288  METHODS  : — ARITHMETIC. 

exposition  of  a  single  abstract  notion  or  principlcj  is 
the  setting  forth  of  demonstrative  reasoning  in  chains  of 
abstractions;  a  process  that  has  its  own  separate  diffi- 
culties. The  requirement  here  is  not  a  new  expository 
niethod,  but  the  careful  employment  of  the  ordinary  forms 
of  perspicuous  language;  to  which  is  to  be  added  the 
making  sure  that  the  links  of  the  chain  are  each  made 
secure- 

Arithmetic. 

The  method  for  Arithmetical  teaching  is  perhaps  the 
best  understood  of  any  of  the  methods  concerned  with 
elementary  studies.  To  illustrate  Number  by  examples 
in  the  concrete,  and  to  show  the  reasons  of  the  rules 
by  means  of  these  examples,  are  the  substance  of  the 
modern  method,  as  opposed  to  the  older  practice  of 
prescribing  the  tables  and  the  rules,  to  be  committed  to 
memory,  and  carried  into  operation  as  the  pupils  best 
might. 

Much  is  involved  in  the  first  attempts  to  work  upon 
number.  The  distinction  between  one  number  and 
another  is  shown  to  the  eye  by  concrete  groups  of 
various  things ;  the  identity  of  number  appearing  under 
disparity  of  materials  and  of  grouping:  ideas  are  thus 
acquired  of  unity,  of  two,  three,  &c.,  up  to  ten  in  a  row. 
Difference  or  contrast  is  made  use  of,  as  well  as  agree- 
ment; five  is  placed  by  the  side  of  four  and  of  six.  At 
the  outset  small  tangible  objects  are  used — balls,  pebbles, 
coins,  apples ;  then  larger  objects,  as  chairs,  and  pictures 
on  a  wall.  Finally,  dots,  or  short  lines,  or  some  other 
plain  marks,  are  the  representative  examples  to  be 
deposited  in  the  mind  as  the  nearest  approach  to  tlie 
abstract  idea. 


FUNDAMENTAL   OPERATIONS.  289 

The  conception  of  Number  is  not  complete  till  it 
carry  with  it  the  ideas  of  more  and  less,  of  adding  and 
taking  away,  and  of  the  converting  of  one  number  into 
another  by  these  means.  More  and  less  stands  contrasted 
with  the  fundamental  notion  of  equals,  which  also  comes 
to  the  front  in  the  first  manipulation  with  numbers. 
Sameness  in  diflference  is  exemplified  in  the  notion  of 
each  number,  obtained  by  comparing  the  concrete  ex- 
amples; and  equality  first  conceived  by  coincidence  of 
lengths,  is  transferred  to  number,  by  numerical  coinci- 
dence in  differently  arranged  groups ;  as  when  nine  is 
set  forth  in  one  row,  and  also  in  three  rows. 

On  the  basis  of  the  preliminary  exercises  with  num- 
bers in  the  concrete,  the  decimal  system  is  reached,  and 
with  it  the  methods  of  adding  and  subtracting  ;  all  which 
can  be  made  quite  intelligible  and  rational,  as  the  pre- 
cursor of  the  exercises  to  be  worked.  The  sums  of  the 
simple  numbers,  having  first  been  exemplified,  have  to 
be  committed  to  memory;  and  this  is  the  commencement 
of  the  business  of  computation,  and  of  all  the  severe  part 
of  the  subject.  It  being  the  essence  of  the  abstracting 
operations  to  enable  us  to  leap  to  conclusions,  without 
going  through  all  the  intermediate  steps,  the  memory  has 
to  receive  with  firmness  and  precision  all  that  is  included 
in  the  addition  and  multiplication  tables ;  and  the  test 
of  aptitude  for  the  subject  is  the  readiness  to  come  under 
tl  is  discipline.  It  is  a  kind  of  memory  that  in  all  pro- 
bability depends  on  a  certain  maturity  or  advancement  of 
the  brain  ;  so  that  no  amount  of  concrete  illustration  will 
force  it  on  before  its  time.  On  the  old  system,  the  pupil 
commenced  arithmetic  when  able  to  imbibe  the  tables 
and  to  work  sums  without  any  preliminary  explanations 


290  METHODS  : — ARITHMETIC. 

of  number ;  the  ability  arising  in  due  course  by  the 
growth  of  the  brain,  and  not  depending  on  any  aid  from 
the  teacher. 

I  am  not  aware  of  any  special  device  for  lightening 
this  part  of  the  process  of  arithmetical  training.  The 
general  arts  of  teaching  are  of  avail  here  as  elsewhere — 
the  apportioning  of  the  lessons  in  suitable  amount,  the 
graduated  exercises,  the  unbroken  application,  the  pa- 
tience and  encouragement  of  the  teacher.  It  is  plain, 
however,  that  the  multiplication  table  is  a  grand  effort 
of  the  special  memory  for  symbols  and  their  combi- 
nations, and  the  labour  is  not  to  be  extenuated  in  any 
way.  The  associations  must  be  formed  so  as  to  operate 
automatically,  that  is,  without  thinking,  enquiring,  or 
reasoning ;  and  for  this  we  must  trust  to  the  unaided 
adhesiveness  due  to  mechanical  iteration.  It  is  not  un- 
important to  have  gone  so  far  into  the  rationale  of  the 
process  as  to  be  able  to  work  out  any  one  product  de- 
ductively ;  and  it  might  be  a  certain  relief  in  the  work 
of  committing  the  table,  to  select  a  few  of  the  products 
for  determination  by  manipulating  the  factors — four 
sixes  equal  two  tens  and  four,  seven  twelves  equal  eight 
tens  and  four.  Another  collateral  exercise  would  be  to 
call  attention  to  each  column  as  a  steady  addition  of  one 
number — twice  six,  three  times  six,  and  so  on  ;  which  is 
the  point  where  adding  passes  into  multiplying.  These 
explanations  are  useful  in  themselves,  as  contributing  to 
the  science  of  the  subject ;  and  they  are  a  slight  aid  to 
the  memory ;  we  are  not  so  apt  to  forget  that  four  times 
six  is  twenty-four  after  having  formed  the  twenty-four 
from  the  sixes.  Still,  I  apprehend  that  the  cementing  of 
the  requisite  associations  of  the  one  hundred  and  forty- 


FRACTIONS  AND  THE  RULE  OF  THREE.         29 1 

four  products  must  be  mainly  an  affair  of  symbolical 
memor}',  the  result  of  immense  iteration,  and  not  to  be 
entered  on  until  a  suitable  age. 

While  this  complete  and  self-sufficing  association  is 
the  groundwork  of  the  process  of  multiplication,  which 
enters  into  all  the  higher  operations,  there  are  various 
points  in  the  actual  exercises,  where  the  intelligent  con- 
ception of  numbers  comes  in  aid ;  as  in  the  placing  of  the 
multiplier  below  the  multiplicand,  and  the  arrangement 
of  the  lines  of  the  successive  products.  For  these  mat- 
ters, a  knowledge  of  the  reasons  is  very  serviceable.  The 
same  applies  to  Fractions ;  in  them  the  reasons  assist  the 
mind  in  observing  the  rules,  which  are  not  so  easily  held 
in  the  unmeaning  shape  as  are  the  addition  and  multipli- 
cation tables.  Still  more  does  the  knowledge  of  reasons 
apply  to  the  Rule  of  Three,  which  can  hardly  be  applied 
under  any  mode  of  stating  it  that  does  not  assign  the 
explanation.  Hence,  this  is  justly  counted  the  pons 
asinorum  of  Arithmetic  ;  it  is  the  place  where  mere  rote 
acquirement  is  sure  to  break  down.  So  long  as  the  ques- 
tions are  given  in  a  regular  form,  the  unmeaning  rule  may 
be  enough ;  but  as  against  distorted  arrangements,  it  is 
powerless.  In  the  usual  applications  to  computing  Inter- 
est, the  hackneyed  rule  suffices  only  for  the  easiest  cases. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that,  while  many  of  the  links  of 
arithmetical  operations  are  blind  unmeaning  symbolical 
associations,  which  are  possible  at  a  certain  age,  which 
may  be  called  the  dawning  of  the  Age  of  Abstract 
Reason,  because  it  is  the  epoch  when  the  mind  can  be- 
take itself  to  symbolical  and  representative  signs,  and 
think  and  operate  through  their  instrumentality, — yet 
there  runs  through  the  subject  a  necessity  of  perceiving 


292  METHODS : — ARITHMETIC. 

the  grounds  and  connections  of  the  various  operations , 
and  unless  this  perception  is  arrived  at,  there  will  be  in- 
cessant halting.  Nevertheless,  when  the  proper  routine 
is  once  learnt  for  all  the  recurring  cases,  the  only  thing 
wanted  is  facility  in  the  cardinal  operations,  the  result 
of  the  symbolical  memory. 

The  full  bearings  of  Arithmetic,  as  a  science,  cannot 
be  seen  until  the  pupil  has  made  some  way  in  the  higher 
branches  of  Mathematics ;  and  they  are  never  completely 
known,  except  to  the  few  that  attain  the  conception  of 
the  highest  scientific  or  logical  method.  In  the  lower 
stage  of  school  training,  ease  and  accuracy  in  calcula- 
tion, extended  to  the  ordinary  compass  of  arithmetical 
problems,  must  be  chiefly  looked  to.  The  persistent 
practice  of  years  should  bring  about  this  result;  while 
rapidity  is  attained  by  special  drill  in  mental  arithmetic. 

There  is  an  important  principle  of  economy  in  Edu- 
cation that  applies  to  Arithmetic,  but  not  to  it  alone; 
that  is,  the  utilizing  of  the  questions  or  exercises,  by 
making  them  the  medium  of  useful  information.  Instead 
of  giving  unmeaning  numbers  to  add,  subtract,  multiply, 
and  so  on,  we  might,  after  the  more  preliminary  instances, 
make  every  question  contain  some  important  numerical 
data  relating  to  the  facts  of  nature,  or  the  conventional 
usages  of  life ;  anticipating,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  future 
exigencies  of  the  pupils  in  their  station  in  life.  Not 
that  they  should  be  asked  to  commit  these  data  to 
memory,  or  be  twitted  for  not  having  attended  to  them, 
but  that  in  those  moments  when  attention  is  not  en- 
giossed  with  the  difficulties  of  the  purely  arithmetical 
work,  it  may  chance  to  fix  upon  the  numbers  given  in 
the  question,  and  thereby  impress  these  on  the  memory 


THE  QUESTIONS  UTILIZED.  293 

For  example,  the  leading  dates  in  chronology  might 
be  embodied  in  a  variety  of  questions.  A  few  sums  and 
differences  derived  from  the  reigns  of  the  English  sove- 
reigns, would  be  a  collateral  aid  in  stamping  these  on 
the  memory;  and  might  be  the  more  effectual  that  it  is 
not  given  as  the  essential  stress  of  the  exercise.  Such 
simple  examples  in  subtraction  as  how  many  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  Conquest,  since  the  death  of 
Charles  I.,  since  the  Union  of  England  and  Scotland, 
the  dates  being  either  given  in  the  question,  or  assumed 
to  have  been  otherwise  given — would  help  to  impress 
these  on  the  memory. 

In  a  similar  way,  important  Geographical  numbers 
could  be  stamped  on  the  recollection  by  being  manipu- 
lated in  a  variety  of  questions.  The  dimensions,  area, 
and  population  of  the  three  kingdoms,  the  proportion 
of  cultivated  and  uncultivated  land,  the  population  of 
the  largest  cities,  the  productions,  trade,  taxation  of  the 
country, — all  which  become  the  subject  of  reference  and 
the  groundwork  of  reasonings  in  politics, — could  receive 
an  increased  hold  on  the  mind  by  their  iteration  in  the 
Arithmetical  sums. 

The  common  weights  and  measures  should  be  familiar 
to  everyone ;  and  these  might  be  so  wrapped  up  in  exer- 
cises, that  the  pupil  could  not  avoid  taking  note  of  them. 
The  mere  act  of  writing  them  a  number  of  times  on  the 
slate,  with  a  view  to  solving  questions,  would  render  it- 
almost  impossible  to  escape  being  struck  by  them.  A 
most  valuable  datum  in  the  ordinary  contingencies  of  life 
is  the  relation  of  weight  to  bulk,  given  through  the 
medium  of  water.  A  cubic  foot  of  water  weighs  62^  lbs, 
and  a  gallon  weighs  10  lbs, ;  these  are  data  that  no  mind 


294  METHODS  : — ARITHMETIC 

should  be  without.  If  a  few  leading  specific  gravities  - 
cork,  wood  (of  some  of  the  commoner  kinds),  building 
stone,  iron,  lead,  gold — were  added,  there  would  be  the 
means  of  readily  arriving  at  many  interesting  facts. 

Frequent  reference  might  be  made  to  foreign  moneys 
and  scales  of  weights  and  measures,  as  of  almost  universd 
interest ;  and  especially  to  the  decimal  system  of  foreign 
countries.     All  this  could  be  done  in  questions. 

Next,  I  might  cite  the  scales  of  the  thermometer. 
For  want  of  knowing  these,  the  statements  of  tempera- 
ture are,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  unintelligible :  the 
Centigrade  and  Reaumur  being  now  more  in  use  than 
Fahrenheit. 

The  comparative  strength  in  alcohol  of  spirits,  malt 
liquors,  and  wines  might  be  incidentally  remembered  by 
being  involved  in  exercises  of  computation. 

We  might  range  over  the  various  sciences  for  interest- 
ing data.  Thus,  in  Astronomy,  such  leading  numbers  as 
the  sun's  distance,  and  magnitude,  the  moon's  distance, 
the  distances  of  the  greater  planets  from  the  sun,  the 
periods  of  revolution,  and  rotation—  could  be  chosen,  as 
not  unlikely  to  make  an  impression  through  their  inci- 
dental use  in  questions.  Such  is  the  so-called  perversity 
of  human  nature,  that  the  mind  would  often  take  a  de- 
light in  dwelling  upon  these  casual  figures,  because  to 
remember  them  was  not  a  part  of  the  task.  And  further, 
by  a  general  law  of  the  mind,  if  a  question  for  some 
reason  or  other  has  engaged  the  attention  in  an  unusual 
degree,  the  memory  will  receive  the  indelible  stamp  c/ 
all  its  parts  and  accompaniments. 


GEOMETRY  THE   PORTAL.  295 


The  Higher  Mathematics. 

The  Methods  in  Geometry,  Algebra,  and  the  Higher 
Mathematics,  are  the  methods  for  impressing  abstract  and 
symbolical  notions  and  principles.  The  understanding 
must  now  accompany  the  work  throughout;  the  stage  of 
routine  manipulation,  worked  up  to  automatic  dexterity, 
is  left  behind.  To  a  certain  extent,  the  mechanical  pro- 
cesses may  enter  into  Algebra;  the  pupil  may  receive 
certain  instructions,  and,  without  understanding  the 
reasons,  perform  the  simpler  operations  of  adding  sub- 
tracting, multiplying,  as  in  Arithmetic,  but  in  the 
resolution  of  equations,  the  principles  must  be  under- 
stood. 

To  advance  at  a  moderate,  steady,  pace,  to  see  each 
step  well  familiarized,  before  entering  on  the  next, — are 
the  rules  of  all  difficult  acquisition,  from  the  beginning 
of  time  till  the  end.  The  earlier  parts  of  such  subjects 
as  Geometry  and  Algebra  need  the  longest  iteration: 
the  progress  should  be  at  an  accelerating  rate.  The 
higher  Mathematics  should  not  be  commenced  with  im- 
mature or  incapable  minds. 

The  fundamental  axioms  of  Mathematics,  includ- 
ing Arithmetic,  are  brought  forward  exclusively  in  con- 
nection with  Geometry,  which  has  always  been  the 
purest  type  of  a  demonstrative  science.  This  makes 
Geometry  now,  what  it  was  to  Plato,  the  portal  of  the 
sciences.  The  scheme  of  formal  demonstration,  pro- 
ceeding from  Definitions,  Axioms,  and  Postulates,  is  first 
unfolded  in  Euclid  ;  hardly  anything  corresponding  is 
found  in  the  usual   modes  of  commencing   Arithmetic 


296  METHODS  : — HIGHER   MATHEMATICS. 

and  Algebra.  No  one  knows  Geometry,  in  the  proper 
scientific  way,  without  comprehending  the  precise  drift 
of  all  these  preparatory  elements,  as  well  as  the  nature 
of  consecutive  demonstration.  But  there  is  a  concrete 
handling  of  Geometry  precisely  analogous  to  the  Pesta- 
lozzi  system  for  Arithmetic,  and  having  the  same  effect. 
It  familiarizes  the  mind  with  the  figures  or  diagrams, 
enables  sides  and  angles  to  be  understood,  and  gives  a 
mode  of  experimental  proof  of  some  of  the  leading 
theorems  that  is  really  conclusive  in  itself,  although  not 
the  sort  of  proof  that  belongs  to  the  science.  That  the 
sum  of  the  three  angles  of  a  triangle  is  two  right  angles, 
can  be  proved  in  the  concrete;  just  as  we  can  prove  that 
six  times  four  is  twenty-four.  It  would  be  a  mistake, 
however,  to  suppose  that  the  experimental  proof  of  pro- 
positions by  cutting  and  folding  cards  is  either  Geometry, 
or  a  preparation  for  entering  on  the  march  of  Euclid,  or 
of  any  other  system  of  Geometry  conceived  in  the  scien- 
tific form.  When  we  come  to  the  real  business  of  Geome- 
try, we  have  quite  another  sort  of  work  before  us ;  we 
are  refused  appeals  to  the  senses  or  the  concrete,  and 
must  establish  each  property  as  a  consequence  of  some 
previous  property,  starting  first  of  all  from  the  defini- 
tions and  axioms,  which  are  to  be  conceived  as  purely 
representative  abstractions.  The  serious  work  of  the 
teacher  lies  in  following  this  plan,  and  in  using  his  con- 
crete instances  only  in  aid  of  the  abstractions  as  they 
are  given  in  the  definitions.  'A  line  is  length  with- 
out breadth.'  Examples  of  lines  in  the  concrete  may 
be  given  with  this  definition,  but  what  the  pupil  must 
learn  to  understand  (with  no  small  difficulty)  is,  that 
every  concrete  line  is  false  to  the  definition ;  and  that 


ALGEBRA   FOLLOWS   GEOMETRY.  297 

the  mental  operation  to  be  performed  is  thinking  of 
the  length,  and  neglecting,  or  leaving  out  of  account, 
the  breadth.  Next  the  straight  line  is  taken  up  in  a 
fashion  that  leaves  the  concrete  far  behind.  No  doubt, 
a  little  concrete  illustration  is  useful  as  a  help  to  the 
definition — 'lines  cannot  coincide  in  two  points  with- 
out coinciding  altogether  ; '  but  the  notion  must  thence- 
forth be  grasped  as  an  abstraction,  and  conjoined 
with  other  abstractions  in  chains  of  demonstration.  So 
with  the  other  definitions.  So  also  with  the  axioms : 
a  few  concrete  examples  are  provided  at  the  outset, 
and  their  support  is  thenceforth  withdrawn  ;  the  mind 
must  hold  by  the  abstract  conceptions,  as  embodied 
partly  in  diagrams,  and  partly  in  general  language ;  and 
must  be  ready  to  draw  inferences  from  clusters  of  pro- 
positions given  in  this  naked  form.  The  concrete  pre- 
paration soon  exhausts  its  efficacy ;  and  the  pupil  has 
to  depend  upon  the  power  to  retain  and  to  accumulate 
abstractions  for  the  purposes  of  the  work  in  hand. 

The  aid  to  be  afforded  by  the  teacher  in  mastering  the 
demonstrations  of  Geometry,  consists  chiefly  in  making 
the  essential  steps  prominent  among  the  long-winded 
repetitions  of  subordinate  matters.  The  propositions  as 
given  in  Euclid  could  be  simplified  by  giving  a  larger 
type  to  the  main  statements  ;  and  the  living  voice  of  the 
teacher  can  still  further  contribute  to  put  the  stress  of 
attention  where  it  is  most  required,  and  withdraw  it  from 
the  tedious  repetitions. 

Algebra  is  better  learnt  after  Geometry,  inasmuch 
as  it  works  in  part  by  demonstration  or  deduction  from 
principles,  for  which  by  far  the  best  commencement  is 
Geometry.     It  has  its  own  speciality,  which  consists  in 


298  METHODS  : — HIGHER   MATHEMATICS. 

wrapping  up  the  problems  more  completely  in  symbols, 
so  that  the  inferences  have  to  depend  upon  the  validity 
of  the  symbolic  representations  and  processes.  The 
symbolic  processes  should  be  justified  by  explanations 
and  demonstrations  at  the  outset ;  and  the  pupil  should 
fully  comprehejid  these.  In  point  of  fact,  most  pupils 
take  all  that  upon  trust ;  the  results  being  always  right, 
and  being  easily  verified,  they  go  on  the  principle  that 
'  all's  well  that  ends  well.'  That  *  minus  multiplied  by 
minus  is  plus,'  is  proved  by  never  leading  us  to  a  wrong 
conclusion. 

It  is  the  province  of  the  accomplished  mathemati- 
cian to  provide  the  best  possible  simplifications  of  the 
difficulties  that  cloud  the  higher  mathematics.  How 
to  embody  the  actual  problems  in  mathematical  lan- 
guage,— for  example,  the  problems  of  motion  in  the 
scheme  of  differential  co-efficients, — is  a  standing  em- 
barrassment, not  to  be  met  by  any  of  the  arts  of  ordi- 
nary tuition. 

Mathematics  is,  in  respect  of  teaching  method,  a 
sufficient  tj'pe  of  the  abstract  and  deductive  sciences. 
All  the  subsequent  sciences,  in  the  fundamental  group 
— Physics,  Chemistry,  Biology,  Psychology — have  their 
severe  and  abstract  side,  although  with  a  growing  de- 
pendence on  the  concrete.  He  that  could  teach  Mathe- 
matics well,  would  not  be  a  bad  teacher,  in  any  one  of  the 
rest,  unless  by  the  accident  of  total  inaptitude  for  expe- 
rimental illustration  ;  while  the  mere  experimentalist  is 
most  likely  to  fall  into  the  error  of  missing  the  essential 
condition  of  science  as  reasoned  truth ;  not  to  speak  of 
the  danger  of  making  the  instruction  an  affair  of  sensa* 
tion,  glitter,  or  pyrotechnic  show. 


THE  EXPERIMENTAL  SCIENCES.  299 

An  Inductive  Science,  as  Experimental  Physics, 
Chemistry,  and  Biology,  is  still  a  Science  ;  there  are  general 
principles  and  particular  instances.  What  is  absent  is 
the  long  consecutive  chain  of  demonstration,  requiring  a 
sustained  mastery  of  a  whole  series  of  propositions  ;  but 
this  labour  is  replaced  by  others.  The  laws  of  the  In- 
ductive sciences  are  liable  to  come  under  many  qualifi- 
cations and  conditions  ;  instead  of  a  single  well-marked 
predicate,  there  is  a  complex  and  conditional  predication ; 
and  if  we  have  not  such  a  long  course  to  run,  we  have 
another  kind  of  mental  tone,  in  the  shape  of  manifold 
and  distracting  statements. 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  reiterate,  in  connection 
with  the  general  or  fundamental  sciences,  that  although 
many  of  their  truths  can  be  brought  forward  usefully,  as 
object  lessons,  they  will  certainly  not  be  retained  in  the 
mind  with  any  degree  of  fixity  or  precision,  unless  they 
are  finally  grasped  in  their  proper  places  in  the  mother 
sciences.  It  is  well  to  have  interesting  facts  of  heat, 
or  of  atmospheric  pressure,  exhibited  in  desultory 
fashion,  at  an  age  when  Physical  science  could  not  be 
taught  in  its  proper  character ;  but  until  the  various 
facts  are  seen  in  their  scientific  connections,  they  will 
remain  hazy  and  precarious.  Even  a  master  of  exposi- 
tion, like  Huxley,  could  not  effectively  impress,  although 
he  could  clothe  with  interest,  the  truths  of  Biology,  or 
Geology,  in  the  form  of  an  isolated  address. 

Natiwal  History. 

The  Natural  History  Sciences  are  typified,  and  chiefly 
made  up,  by  Mineralogy,  Botany,  and  Zoology.  The 
Methods  of    teaching  these  are  not  difficult  to  assign, 


300  METHODS  :— NATURAL   HISTORY. 

although  there  are  some  things  that  serve  to  compHcate 
them.  It  is  understood  that  they  repeat  facts,  notions 
already  obtained  in  the  General  Sciences,  and  that  they 
are  occupied  with  the  arrangement,  classification,  and 
description  of  vast  numbers  of  individual  objects. 

Any  of  these  sciences,  and  particularly  the  two  last, 
would  swamp  and  overwhelm  the  strongest  memory, 
and  the  details  would  be  unprofitable  when  lodged  there. 
The  teacher  has  to  hit  upon  a  principle  of  selection  that 
will  guide  him  in  making  the  most  of  a  limited  amount 
of  time. 

Take  Mineralogy.  There  is  here,  as  in  the  others,  a 
general  and  a  special  department.  The  general  depart-^ 
ment  states  fully,  and  in  order,  all  the  successive  pro- 
perties of  minerals  at  large — Mathematical  (crystalline 
forms),  Physical,  Chemical — and  adduces  individual  mi- 
nerals as  exemplifying  the  several  properties,  in  all  their 
various  modes  and  degrees.  This  part  the  studept  is 
expected  thoroughly  to  master;  and  after  being  familiar 
with  the  related  mother  sciences,  can  easily  do  so.  It 
is,  however,  the  smallest  portion,  as  regards  extent.  The 
special  department  contains  the  classification  of  all 
existing  minerals,  and  the  enumeration  and  full  descrip- 
tion of  each  species  in  its  place.  This  cannot  be  com- 
prehended by  any  single  mind.  The  lecturer  is  able  to 
overtake  the  scheme  of  classification,  with  its  divisions 
and  subdivisions,  and  can  do  nothing  further  but  choose 
exemplary  species,  for  full  description.  A  certain  num- 
ber of  species  there  are  that  embrace  substances  of  such 
leading  importance  in  the  economy  of  nature  that  every 
instructed  person  might  desire  to  know  all  about  them ; 
such  are  silica,  alumina,  lime,  sulphur,  the  leading  metals, 


MINERALOGY.— BOTANY. — ZOOLOGY.      30 1 

and  their  more  notable  combinations.  Others,  as  the 
gems,  have  the  interest  of  beauty  and  rarity.  So, 
everyone  would  wish  to  know  something  of  the  bodies 
that  come  to  us  from  wandering  over  the  realms  of 
space.  But  of  two  or  three  thousand  species,  no  teaching 
in  an  ordinary  course  could  embrace  more  than  forty  or 
fifty,  and  of  these  the  memory  might  hold  in  minute 
fulness,  fifteen  or  twenty,  and  retain  a  vaguer  recollection 
of  the  rest.  The  knowledge  set  forth,  in  the  first  or 
general  department,  might  be  retained  with  considerable 
firmness,  and  would  include  a  great  amount  of  specific 
information,  in  a  very  favourable  form,  namely,  the 
enumeration  of  individuals  as  exemplifying  general 
properties — cubical  crystallization,  highest  degrees  of 
hardness,  magnetism,  &c. 

The  arrangement  is  analogous  for  Botany,  General 
Botany  precedes,  next  coma  the  Principles  of  Classifica- 
tion, and  lastly  the  detail  of  Species,  which  is  the  intermi- 
nable portion  of  the  subject.  There  is  a  much  shorter 
course,  that  is,  recreative  Botany,  which  teaches  enough 
for  the  determination  of  wild  plants,  as  encountered  in 
their  native  localities.  For  this  form  of  the  science  are 
compiled  the  Floras  of  countries  and  districts,  which 
somewhat  disguise  the  proper  science  of  Botany;  being 
still  more  remotely  connected  with  Plant  Biology,  which 
deals  with  the  processes  of  plant  life,  including  the  wide 
subject  of  fertilization. 

Zoology  is  well  understood  to  be  a  vaster  subject 
than  either  of  the  others,  whether  as  to  the  number  of  its 
objects,  or  as  to  their  complication.  Moreover,  it  is  tra- 
versed by  the  special  Anatomy  of  the  Human  Subject, 
by  which  the  highest  of  Zoological  species  is  taken  out 


302  METHODS: -NATURAL   HISTORY. 

of  the  classification  and  treated  in  isolation  and  inde- 
pendence, and  with  a  degree  of  fulness  that  is  accorded 
to  no  other  species.  It  is  also  to  the  human  subject 
that  the  laws  of  the  animal  mechanism  and  vital  pro- 
cesses are  attached,  so  that  the  mother  science  of  Biology 
in  its  Animal  department  is  almost  entirely  concerned 
with  Man ;  other  animals  being  used  as  subsidiary  elu- 
cidations. There  is  thus  a  play  of  cross  purposes  be- 
tween Human  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Comparative 
Anatomy  and  Physiology,  and  Zoology  proper;  and  as 
they  make  three  vast  subjects,  no  one  can  overtake  more 
than  one,  with  a  smadl  portion  of  the  others;  and  the 
selection  of  what  is  most  valuable  for  a  general  education 
is  yet  a  desideraturh.  Biology  as  Human  Physiology, 
enlarged  by  comparative  references  to  the  animals  gene- 
rally, should  enter  into  a  complete  scientific  training. 
Now  the  human  subject,  if  anatomically  studied,  which 
is  hardly  possible  except  in  a  medical  school,  is  so  far 
a  key  to  the  Vertebrates  generally,  and  the  Mammalia 
especially,  that  it  contains  all  their  parts  and  something 
more ;  yet  there  remain  very  considerable  differences ; 
and  Zoology  is  still  an  arduous  and  extensive  study, 
which  must  be  reduced  by  selection,  until  even  whole 
Classes,  not  to  speak  of  Natural  Orders,  Genera  and 
Species,  are  left  unrepresented  in  a  tolerably  extended 
course.  Still,  the  groundwork  may  be  laid  for  following 
out  the  subject,  which  is  all  that  teaching  can  do,  or 
should  attempt,  for  many  of  the  most  fruitful  regions  of 
knowledge. 

Geology  has  a  sphere  of  its  own,  although  involving 
references  to  all  the  three  foregoing  sciences.  It  is  a 
science  of  detail  but  not  to  the  extent  of  the  others; 


UTILITY  OF  HANDLING  THE  OBJECTS.  303 

and  the  physical  processes  are  more  thought  of  than  in 
them :  in  which  respect,  it  nearly  resembles  Meteorology, 
an  applied  department  of  Physics.  Geology  could  be 
understood  and  followed  on  a  basis  of  Natural  Philo- 
sophy or  Physics,  with  mere  '  object  lessons '  on  minerals, 
plants  and  animals. 


PRACTICAL   TEACHING. 

With  reference  to  the  Experimental  Sciences  of 
Physics,  Chemistry,  Biology,  and  the  Natural  History 
group,  it  is  now  frequently  urged  that  the  teaching 
should  be  practical :  meaning,  not  merely,  that  the 
teacher  should  present  to  the  pupils  actual  experiments 
and  specimens,  but  that  the  pupils  should  manipulate 
with  their  own  hands.  Professor  Huxley  seems  to  hold 
that  Zoology  cannot  be  learnt  with  any  degree  of 
sufficiency  unless  the  student  practise  dissection. 

In  support  of  this  position,  there  are  strong  reasons. 
In  the  first  place,  the  impression  made  on  the  mind  by 
the  actual  objects,  as  seen,  handled,  and  operated  upon, 
is  far  beyond  the  efficacy  of  words,  or  description.  And 
not  only  is  it  greater,  but  it  is  more  faithful  to  the  fact. 
While  diagrams  have  a  special  value  in  bringing  out 
links  of  connection  that  are  disguised  in  the  actual  ob- 
jects, they  can  never  show  the  things  exactly  as  they 
appear  to  our  senses ;  and  this  full  and  precise  concep- 
tion of  actuality  is  the  most  desirable  form  of  knowledge ; 
it  is  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth. 
Moreover,  it  enables  the  student  to  exercise  a  free  and 
independent  judgment  upon  the  dicta  of  the  teacher. 

Whether  the  power  and  habit  of  experimental  mani- 


304  METHODS  : — PRACTICAL  TEACHING. 

pulation  should  be  acquired  for  its  own  sake,  depends 
on  what  further  use  is  likely  to  be  made  of  it.  In 
the  Zoology  courses  in  the  '  School  of  Mines,'  there 
are  schoolmasters'  classes,  where  dissecting  is  practised, 
and  is  useful ;  but  we  cannot  contend  that  very  valuable 
histruction  may  not  be  imparted  by  merely  showing  dis- 
sected and  prepared  specimens,  although  the  pupil  has 
no  hand  in  the  work.  So,  in  Experimental  Physics,  a 
good  knowledge  may  be  obtained  from  a  course  that 
shows  all  needful  experiments,  without  the  actual  par- 
ticipation by  the  pupils  themselves.  To  make  an  ex- 
periment succeed,  many  delicate  precautions  and  fine 
manipulations  may  be  wanted ;  some  of  these  precau- 
tions implicate  matters  of  knowledge  that  are  not 
perhaps  conveyed  to  the  minds  of  the  learners,  while 
they  are  very  strongly  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the 
experimenter.  As  regards  the  mere  manual  skill,  that 
cannot  be  called  a  part  of  scientific  information  or  disci- 
pline, while  to  acquire  it  needs  time  and  attention.  The 
Laboratory  teaching  in  Physics  (a  recent  innovation),  like 
Laboratory  teaching  in  Chemistry,  is  a  good  introduc- 
tion to  various  scientific  avocations,  as  Engineering, 
Machinery,  and  Manufactures  ;  it  cannot  be  regarded  as 
essential  to  the  general  course  of  scientific  study,  and 
would  be  too  dearly  bought  at  the  cost  of  marring  some 
other  department  of  science.  More  especially,  if  train- 
ing in  the  higher  intellectual  operations  of  the  mind  is 
the  object  of  view,  would  it  be  a  disproportion  to  give 
up  a  large  share  of  time  to  practical  working. 

What  may  be  said  in  favour  of  practical  teaching  for 
a  general  training  is,  that  the  arts,  devices,  precautions 
connected    with  exact   observation,  would    be  brought 


USES  OF  TEXT-BOOKS.  305 

home  by  a  course  of  study  in  some  one  of  the  experi- 
mental or  observational  sciences.  Practical  experience 
in  a  single  subject  would  be  enough  ;  and  the  interest  of 
the  work  would  go  far  to  repay  the  devotion.  It  is  plain 
that  in  none  of  the  experimental  subjects  could  anyone 
be  an  adept,  an  expert,  or  an  authority,  apart  from  the 
practical  study ;  b  it  to  carry  the  information  and  the 
training  forward  into  other  departments,  a  knowledge 
obtained  without  this  help  may  suffice.  We  need  not 
be  workers  in  Physiology  to  apply  its  results  to  the 
physical  accompaniments  of  the  Mind. 

ORAL   TEACHING   AND   TEXT-BOOKS. 

In  primary  instruction,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  in 
the  secondary  higher  instruction,  text-books  are  made 
use  of  as  the  means  of  communicating  knowledge.  They 
are  very  variously  employed.  Sometimes  the  teacher 
himself  orally  delivers  the  whole  substance  of  the  les- 
son, referring  to  the  text-book  as  a  further  aid.  Some- 
times he  selects  portions  for  oral  exposition,  thus  awak- 
ening the  pupils'  minds  to  what  is  to  be  done,  and  leaving 
the  rest  to  their  own  exertions.  Lastly,  he  may  do  nothing 
at  all,  but  exact,  in  the  form  of  lessons,  an  account  of 
what  is  in  the  book,  giving  corrections  and  explanations 
according  as  these  are  found  to  be  necessary.  The  first 
method  very  nearly  approaches  to  independent  lecturing, 
the  text-book  being  an  adjunct  and  support.  A  combi- 
nation of  the  lecture  and  the  text-book,  when  they  are 
made  to  harmonize  well,  is  an  effective  mode  of  carrying 
on  instruction  both  in  the  lower  and  in  the  higher  grades. 
The  text-book  does  not  supersede  the  lectures,  but  only 


306  METHODS  :— ORAL   TEACHING. 

supplies  gaps.  If  there  is  no  text-book,  provision  has 
to  be  made  for  taking  full  notes,  and  the  lecturer  must 
advance  slowly,  and  be  careful  to  dictate  or  post  up 
the  heads  and  leading  principles. 

Lecturing,  that  is,  oral  teaching,  with  or  without  text- 
book, has  the  very  great  advantage  of  the  living  voice, 
aided  by  the  sympathy  of  numbers  ;  and  is  indispensable 
in  school-teaching.  Young  pupils  have  much  difficulty 
in  guessing  out  for  themselves  the  meaning  of  a  com- 
pactly-worded handbook;  to  set  them  to  work  at  this,  as 
an  evening  task,  is  a  kind  of  fatigue  drill.  The  gene- 
rality are  found  at  fault  when  the  class  is  examined ;  a 
few  may  succeed,  and  the  others  get  the  benefit  of  the 
rehearsal,  with  the  comments  of  the  master,  and  in  that 
way  learn  all  that  they  do  learn.  If  a  lesson,  after  being 
heard  in  this  way,  were  to  be  again  prescribed,  the  get- 
ting up  might  be  extended  to  the  whole  class. 

A  task  may  be  of  a  kind  to  dispense  with  prelimi- 
nary explanation,  as  in  learning  a  string  of  words,  or  a 
verbatim  statement.  Even  then,  it  is  well  that  the  teacher 
should  first  recite  it  to  the  pupils  ;  his  doing  so  once  will 
go  farther  to  fix  it  in  the  memory  than  their  going  over 
it  by  themselves  six  times.  There  is  no  harm,  but  good, 
in  exacting  a  certain  amount  of  indep(mdent  prepara- 
tion, especially  with  older  pupils,  but  the  teacher's  first 
recitation,  and  the  final  iteration  during  the  lessons,  are 
the  principal  instrumentality  whereby  the  lesson  is  fixed 
in  the  memory;  the  learner's  own  studies  are  the  smallest 
contribution  to  the  effect. 

When  there  are  difficulties  to  be  encountered,  the  pre- 
vious explanations  of  the  master  are  indispensable.  One 
species  of  difficulty  deserves  mention,  as  serious  in  itself, 


PRESCRIBING   TASKS.  307 

and  of  common  occurrence.  A  passage  in  the  text- 
book may  be  prescribed,  not  to  be  got  by  heart,  but  to 
be  understood,  and  repeated  itt  substance.  In  historical 
narration,  in  a  geographical  picture,  in  a  natural  history 
description,  and  in  scientific  explanation,  this  position  is 
created  ;  and  it  is  a  severe  ordeal  alike  to  the  text-book, 
to  the  pupil,  and  to  the  master.  To  divine  what  are 
essential  or  leading  points  in  a  subject,  and  what  are  the 
accessory  or  subordinate  details,  requires  a  very  mature 
judgment ;  while,  if  they  are  separated  by  typography, 
in  the  text-book,  the  lowest  degree  of  judgment  is  dis- 
pensed with,  unless  the  exercise  be  to  show  the  bearing 
of  the  one  on  the  other.  But  for  a  pupil  to  discover 
what  shall  appear  the  leading  points  to  the  master,  is  to 
be  something  more  than  a  pupil.  It  is  in  this  situation, 
that  the  teacher  should  indicate  what  the  points  are,  and 
should  awaken  the  minds  of  pupils  to  the  difference 
between  these  and  the  subordinate  details. 

The  easiest  case  is  when  there  is  a  principle  or  rule, 
with  a  host  of  examples  to  choose  from  ;  all  that  is  ne- 
cessary is  to  prescribe  the  rule  v/ith  a  choice  of  examples. 
The  exercise  is  not  one  of  memory  but  of  comprehension. 

It  is  bad  policy  to  prescribe  lessons  of  excessive 
length,  expecting  only  a  part  to  be  performed.  If,  for 
the  sake  of  the  better  pupils,  the  lesson  should  exceed 
what  the  average  can  perform,  the  minimum  should  be  a 
defined  portion,  to  be  exacted  of  everyone.  The  impos- 
sibility of  bringing  every  pupil  in  a  class  to  book,  on 
every  occasion,  is  in  itself  a  standing  temptation  to  run 
the  blockade ;  but  when  the  quantity  prescribed  is  beyond 
what  can  be  reasonably  required,  the  do-nothing  habit 
receives  positive  encouragement 


308  METHODS: — EXAMINATIONS. 

EXAMINATIONS   GENERALLY. 

Examinations  are  a  part  of  the  means  of  making 
pupils  put  in  practice  what  is  taught  them.  The  first  step 
is  to  show  or  tell  them  something,  the  next  is  to  make 
them  do  it  themselves.  As  regards  information  imparted, 
the  exercise  consists  in  making  them  rehearse  it,  to  show 
that  it  has  taken  hold  of  the  memory.  If  it  be  a  matter 
of  reasoning,  they  must  do  something  to  show  that  they 
comprehend  the  reasons ;  for  which  case,  a  test  must  be 
devised  to  distinguish  between  repeating  verbatim  the 
words  of  a  reason,  and  understanding  its  bearing.  To 
this  every  good  teacher  or  examiner  is  competent ;  the 
means  are  not  far  to  seek.  Of  all  the  evasions  coming 
under  the  designation  'cram,'  the  substitution  of  memory 
for  understanding  is  the  easiest  to  unmask. 

The  most  singular  abuse  of  the  process  of  examina- 
tion is  seen  in  the  time-honoured  composition  called 
the  Catechism.  Although  most  identified  with  religious 
teaching,  the  catechetical  form  has  extended  into  all 
sorts  of  subjects.  The  point  of  it  is  to  give  the  teacher 
the  words  of  the  questions  to  be  put  to  the  pupils,  while 
they  are  to  repeat  the  words  of  the  answer,  and  so  fulfil 
their  part,  as  in  a  liturgy.  It  is  true  that  good  teachers 
nowadays  superadd  a  cross-examination,  but  this  is  to 
innovate  on  the  very  idea  of  the  catechism,  and  shows 
that  the  time  has  come  for  superseding  it.  It  has  been 
for  ages  the  vehicle  of  a  purely  mechanical  teaching. 

There  is  a  reason  for  occasionally  appending  a  series 
of  questions  to  passages  intended  for  conveying  informa- 
tion, namely,  to  call  attention  to  leading  points,  and  to 
guide  the  pupils  in  preparing  their  task,  as  well  as  to 


PURPOSES   OF   EXAMINATIONS.  309 

Gissist  the  master.  Such  questions  do  not  lend  them- 
selves to  mechanical  teaching,  but  may  do  veiy  much 
the  reverse.  No  doubt  each  master  should  be  able  to 
put  them  for  himself,  but  the  giving  of  them  beforehand 
is  an  advantage,  by  setting  something  for  the  pupUs 
to  do. 

The  conducting  of  Examinations  was  originally 
viewed  as  a  part  of  the  teaching;  and  the  point  con- 
sidered was  how  much  and  what  kind  of  examination 
should  go  along  with  vivd  voce  lecturing  ;  and  under 
what  circumstances  it  was  justifiable  to  prelect  without 
examining  at  all,  as  in  the  German  Universities  and 
elsewhere.  The  Examinations  at  the  close  of  the  course 
or  curriculum,  were  merely  questions  analogous  to  those 
put  during  the  teaching,  to  show  whether  the  pupils 
retained  in  their  memory  to  the  last  what  they  seemed 
to  imbibe  from  day  to  day.  Upon  such  examinations 
certificates  and  prizes  were  awarded  and  degrees  con- 
ferred. 

The  present  system  of  bestowing  important  State 
offices  by  Competitive  Examination  has  given  a  new  im- 
portance to  the  methods  of  conducting  them  ;  and  the 
whole  subject  is  undergoing  fresh  and  rigorous  scrutiny. 
But  if  we  are  to  go  to  the  root  of  this  matter,  we  need 
to  consider  three  things  in  succession.  I.  What  are  the 
subjects  that  constitute  the  best  groundwork  of  intel- 
lectual power  ?  II.  How  are  these  subjects  to  be  taught  ? 
III.  How  are  they  to  be  tested  in  Examinations.-*  The 
first  of  these  topics  is  very  far  from  being  yet  settled ; 
and  I  have  devoted  a  considerable  space  to  elucidate  it 
according  to  my  best  judgment.  The  second  topic  is  the 
question — How  to  teach  .-•  which  still  more  largely  occu- 


3IO  METHODS: — EXAMINATIONS. 

pies  the  present  work.  The  third  topic  I  refrain  from 
entering  upon.  A  very  thorough  discussion  has  been 
recently  given  to  it,  in  a  work  '  On  the  Action  of  Ex- 
aminations considered  as  a  means  of  Selection,'  by 
Mr.  Henry  Latham,  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge. 


CHAPTER   IX. 
THE  MOTHER    TONGUE. 

The  Methods  for  acquiring  Languages  contain  certain 
peculiarities  that  render  desirable  a  separate  discussion. 
The  questions  respecting  the  education  in  the  mother 
tongue  are  numerous  and  highly  involved.  As  regards 
Foreign  Languages,  there  remain  to  be  adjusted,  not 
merely  the  modes  of  acquisition,  but  the  disputes  as  to 
value. 

There  is  an  easily-conceivable  state  of  things,  that 
would  dispense  entirely  with  school  instruction  in  the 
mother  tongue.  If  the  child  were  surrounded  only  by 
those  that  spoke  correctly  and  well;  if  it  had  ample 
opportunities  of  coming  into  contact  with  all  the  highest 
resources  of  the  language,  and  of  being  imbued  with  the 
most  tasteful  usages ; — then  the  education  in  the  mother 
tongue  would  be  perfect  through  unavoidable  imitation; 
there  would  be  no  other  teaching  than  there  is  of  the 
provincialisms  of  dialect  and  brogue.  Something  ap- 
proaching to  this  occurs  in  the  better  classes  of  society 
with  ourselves ;  and  it  is  the  whole  case  among  nations 
that  have  but  one  set  of  expressions  for  all  subjects,  and 
for  all  persons. 

It  is  in  so  far  as  our  actual  position  is  different,  that 
we  need  express  teaching  in  the  native  tongue.     Yet 

22 


312  THE   MOTHER   TONGUE. 

allowance  has  always  to  be  made  for  the  unavoidable 
and  incidental  instruction.  It  is  an  error  to  repeat  at 
school  what  is  learnt  at  home;  and  a  still  commoner 
mistake  to  occupy  school  time  with  what  is  sure  to  be 
learnt  in  the  great  school  of  the  world.  Every  hour 
spent  in  society  is  fraught  with  lessons  in  language. 
All  knowledge  acquired  by  the  help  of  others  comes  to 
us  in  its  language  garb.  A  wide  course  of  attainments 
in  the  various  departments  of  knowledge  is  inseparable 
from  a  culture  in  the  means  of  expression. 

The  primary  school  has  to  fight  against  the  low 
standard  of  the  home,  in  language  as  in  other  things. 
The  other  schools  maintain  the  same  contest ;  and  the 
further  contest  with  what  is  bad  even  in  the  speech  of 
the  educated  ;  including  the  mixture  of  tares  and  wheat 
in  the  field  of  general  literature. 

The  initial  and  pervading  difficulty  in  teaching  lan- 
guage in  general,  and  the  mother  tongue  in  particular,  is 
due  to  the  doubleness  of  the  acquisition — the  union  of 
language  and  thought.  Language  is  nothing  without 
thoughts  to  express;  and  the  attention  is  divided  be- 
tween the  two  factors,  instead  of  being  concentrated 
upon  one  to  the  neglect  of  the  other.  Moreover,  the 
kind  of  thought  to  be  expressed  must  needs  affect  the 
manner  of  expressing  it,  and  must,  therefore,  be  taken 
into  the  account.  There  are,  however,  many  of  the 
arrangements  of  language  that  are  the  same  for  everj'- 
variety  of  subject:  such  are  the  proprieties  of  Grammar, 
and  a  certain  number  of  the  conditions  of  Rhetoric; 
these  constitute  the  more  purely  language  studies. 

It  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  to  teach  language 
is  not  to  teach  knowledge,  in  the  sense  that  we  usually 


LANGUAGE   APART   FROM    KNOWLEDGE,  313 

understand  knowledge :  as  history,  geography,  science, 
the  arts.  Neither  is  it  to  impart  lofty  or  poetic  sentiment. 
or  moral  elevation.  In  those  matters,  language  is  the 
vehicle  or  instrument ;  but  while  we  are  using  it  for  such 
purposes,  we  are  not  expressly  teaching  it.  True,  to 
employ  language  for  any  purpose  is  an  indirect  and  un- 
intentional way  of  giving  instruction  in  language ;  and  a 
large  part  of  our  language  education  is  gained  in  this 
form ;  but  such  an  effect  is  to  be  kept  distinct  from  Ian 
guage  exercises  properly  so  called. 

The  situation  of  carrying  on  a  double  subject  is  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  our  intellectual  culture ;  many 
branches  of  knowledge  have  a  twofold  aspect ;  and  it  is 
easy  to  go  wrong  in  dealing  with  this  situation.  The 
fact  never  to  be  forgotten  is  that  the  human  mind  can 
attend  to  only  one  thing  at  a  time,  although  it  may  shift 
the  attention  very  rapidly,  and  thus  overtake  two  or 
more  things  by  turns.  In  matters  of  education,  however, 
where  different  subjects  have  to  be  mastered,  or  where 
numerous  details  have  to  be  impressed  on  the  memory, 
concentration  on  one  exercise  for  a  certain  time  is  indis- 
pensable ;  and,  in  those  subjects  that  proceed  on  a  double 
line,  the  attention  should  be  sustained  in  one  of  the  two 
directions,  instead  of  flitting  between  both. 

For  the  greater  part  of  language  instruction,  this 
principle  of  distinct  attention  can  be  fully  carried  out. 
Yet  there  are  a  few  situations  where  the  language  and  the 
thought  are  incorporated  in  such  a  way  that  they  cannot 
even  be  separately  considered.  In  Wit  and  Epigram,  and 
in  Figurative  illustration,  the  ideas  and  the  words  equally 
constitute  the  vehicle  for  the  thought  to  be  ultimately 
conveyed.     On  the  other  hand,  a  knowledge  of  things 


314  LANGUAGE   TEACHING   GENERALLY. 

often  assumes  the  guise  of  knowledge  of  language.  What 
is  an  '  epidemic '  ^  seems  a  verbal  question,  but  in  reality 
it  is  a  demand  for  knowledge  as  to  a  natural  fact  or 
l)henomenon. 


CONDITIONS  OF  LANGUAGE  ACQUISITION   GENERALLY. 

Language,  as  an  acquisition,  is  seen  m  greatest  purity 
in  learning  foreign  languages.  It  is  in  these  that  we 
exemplify  the  process  of  adding  word  to  ^ord  by  verbal 
adhesiveness.  The  mother  tongue  involves  largely  the 
operation  of  associating  names  with  things  or  thoughts. 
The  laws  of  acquirement  are  not  the  same  for  the  two  cases. 

In  every  form,  language  is  a  very  serious  draft  upon 
the  plastic  power  of  the  mind ;  and  needs  to  be  favoured 
by  all  those  general  conditions  of  retentiveness  formerly 
set  forth.  The  detailed  associations  that  have  to  be 
constituted  are  exceedingly  vast  in  amount;  the  mere 
number  of  vocables  in  any  cultivated  language  counts 
by  thousands,  while  many  of  them  have  plural  meanings. 
To  these  must  be  superadded  the  special  meanings  of 
phrases,  ideas,  or  combinations  involving  distinct  acts  of 
memory. 

In  the  process  of  uniting  word  to  word  there  is 
exemplified  the  purely  verbal  adhesiveness  of  the  mind, 
embodied  principally  in  the  ear,  for  spoken  language, 
and  in  the  eye  for  written  language  ;  the  voice  being  an 
adjunct  to  the  ear,  and  the  hand  to  the  eye.  This  is  the 
least  favourable  mode  of  learning  language.  To  connect 
an  English  word  with  the  corresponding  word  in  French, 
in  Latir.,  in  Greek,  does  not  bring  into  play  the  most 
powerful  of  the  associating  forces;  it  does  not  fall  into 


OBJECTS  AND  NAMES.  3^5 

the  most  adhesive  lines,  and  it  is  not  supported  by  the 
higher  degrees  of  interest. 

It  is  in  associating  names  at  once  zvitJi  their  objects 
or  meanings,  that  the  acquisition  of  language  proceeds 
most  rapidly  This  is  our  situation  in  learning  the 
mother  tongue.  We  are  in  view  of  some  object — a  fire, 
a  ball,  a  cat — which  lays  hold  of  our  attention  for  the 
time;  the  name  falling  on  the  ear,  is  fused  in  the  same  act 
of  attention  and  becomes  speedily  associated  with  the 
object.  The  more  sensational  a  thing  is,  the  sooner  is 
the  name  incorporated :  a  flash  of  light,  a  sudden  noise, 
a  rapid  motion,  a  fracture — if  duly  named,  at  the  moment 
Df  occurrence,  scarcely  needs  a  second  repetition. 

In  this  operation  of  combining  names  with  our  actual 
experiences,  we  are  powerfully  aided  by  the  emotional 
response,  which  follows  on  every  impression  of  any  con- 
siderable force.  We  feel  prompted  to  some  vocal  excla- 
mation, whenever  we  are  moved,  or  excited,  or  made  to 
attend  to  anything;  and,  if  we  are  made  to  hear  the 
verbal  designation,  we  fall  into  that,  as  the  mode' of 
venting  the  emotional  impulse.  The  child  soon  shows 
this  tendency  to  call  out  the  name  of  anything  that 
arrests  its  attention — fire,  Puss,  Tommy;  and  the  com- 
mand of  language  is  in  this  way  greatly  promoted 

When  learning  a  foreign  language  in  the  country 
where  it  is  spoken,  we  are  made  aware  of  the  difference 
between  adding  word  to  word,  and  connecting  each  name 
at  once  with  the  realities.  In  a  French  town,  we  see  the 
word  '  rue '  put  up  at  every  street  corner ;  in  the  shop 
windows  we  see  the  articles  laid  out  with  their  several 
names  attached.  Riding  on  a  rough  road,  after  some 
great  jolt,  we  hear  a  fellow-passenger  exclaim, '  secousse,' 


3l6  LANGUAGE   TEACHING  GENERALLY. 

and  one  utterance  is  enough  to  attach  the  name  to  the 
situation  for  ever;  whereas,  several  repetitions  of  'se- 
cousse'  and  'shock'  would  be  requisite  to  establish  a 
durable  bond  between  the  two  words. 

In  strict  propriety,  the  same  effect  ought  to  arise 
through  the  circumstance,  that  the  words  in  our  own 
language  should,  when  mentioned,  carry  our  thoughts 
to  their  meaning ;  the  word  *  secousse '  when  explained 
by  the  English  '  shock,'  ought  thereby  to  become  con- 
nected with  what  *  shock '  expresses,  and  an  association 
be  thus  formed  between  the  French  word  and  the  actual 
situation.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  the  result  is  apt 
to  be  but  feebly  and  slowly  attained  through  this  means. 
The  process  is  rendered  more  effectual  by  dwelling  for  a 
little  on  the  meaning,  or  giving  explanations  that  serve 
to  bring  the  actuality  strongly  before  the  mind,  thus: 
'  secousse ' — *  a  shock,  or  jolt,  as  when  riding  on  a  rough 
road,'  &c.  Such  an  explanation  given  orally  by  the 
teacher,  is  likely  to  be  sufficient  to  fix  the  word ;  it  is 
necessarily  less  effective  when  read  by  the  pupil  from 
the  dictionary. 

This  single  example  is  enough  to  show  how  the 
power  of  apprehending  meanings  is  essential  to  rapid 
progress  in  language ;  that  is  to  say,  the  knowledge  of 
things  should  always  keep  ahead  of  the  knowledge  of 
terms.  To  force  on  prematurely  the  knowledge  of  un- 
familiar subjects,  in  order  that  a  very  young  pupil  may 
learn  a  hard  language,  as  Latin,  is  working  at  the  wrong 
end.  If  we  are  to  read  any  author  as  a  lingual  exercise, 
it  is  desirable  that  we  should  previously  understand  his 
subject  as  a  knowledge  exercise;  we  are  then  in  the 
proper  position  for  acquiring  the  vocables  and  forms  of 


KNOWLEDGE  OF   THE  SUBJECT  MATTER.         317 

language  employed  by  him  for  expressing  that  know- 
ledge. To  learn  the  Greek  phraseology  for  Geometry,  we 
should  first  understand  Geometry,  by  studying  it  through 
our  own  language,  and  should  then  read  Euclid  in  the 
original  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  best  geo- 
meter would  make  the  most  rapid  progress  in  the  Greek ; 
even  the  superior  verbal  memory  of  the  young,  or  of 
those  unusually  gifted  with  verbal  adhesiveness,  would 
not  make  up  for  an  imperfect  hold  of  the  subject  matter; 
a  good  mathematician  of  fifty  would  probably  finish  - 
the  task  sooner  than  a  half-taught  youth  of  fifteen,  with 
the  memory  for  words  almost  at  the  very  best. 

Here  we  see  one  of  the  weak  points  of  the  early 
study  of  foreign  languages,  and  especially  of  dead  lan- 
guages. The  strong  point  is  the  freshness  and  force  of 
the  memory,  coupled  with  the  inaptitude  of  the  reason 
for  the  higher  kinds  of  knowledge.  But  unless  the  lan- 
guage is  Required  with  reference  to  the  things  actually 
understood  by  the  pupil,  it  will  not  take  hold  even  of  the 
best  memory.  The  difficulty  is  not  usually  perceived, 
in  consequence  of  the  universality  of  the  easy-narrative 
form  of  composition — the  omnipresent  resource  in  the 
early  stages  of  instruction.  As  it  is  very  desirable  to 
teach  early  the  pronunciation  of  a  foreign  language,  and 
as  this  needs  some  degree  of  acquaintance  with  the  lan- 
guage itself,  it  may  be  taught  in  the  nursery  as  far  as 
the  knowledge  of  a  child  goes,  but  no  farther. 

The  disadvantage  of  combining  language  teaching 
with  the  teaching  of  things  is,  as  we  shall  see,  inevitable 
(although  it  may  be  mitigated)  in  the  mother  tongue, 
but  need  not  be  repeated,  as  it  often  is,  in  foreign  lan- 
guages.    In  these,  the  subject-knowledge  might  always 


3l8  LANGUAGE   TEACHING   GENERALLY. 

be  well  ahead  of  the  language  study.  The  seeming  ob- 
jections to  such  a  course  may  be  met  by  a  preponderance 
of  counter  considerations. 

Postponing  for  a  little  the  full  application  of  these 
generalities  to  the  mother  tongue,  I  must  advert  to  the 
purest  case  of  verbal  acquisition — the  adding  of  word  to 
woid,  without  reference  to  meaning.  Although  the  staple 
of  our  language  power  should  consist  in  associating 
words  with  things,  situations,  or  meanings,  there  is  still 
a  considerable  amount  of  the  other  exercise  implicated 
in  our  learning  of  language,  and  in  our  knowledge  as 
embodied  in  language.  Take,  for  example,  the  details 
of  Grammar — the  inflections  of  inflected  words,  and  the 
lists  that  accompany  grammar  rules  and  definitions. 
Likewise,  the  sentence  forms  that  constitute  our  earliest 
utterances,  and  the  more  elaborate  forms  that  we  use 
with  mechanical  readiness  in  our  later  stages,  are  almost 
purely  verbal  associations.  So  are  the  passages  com- 
mitted to  memory,  at  a  time  when  meaning  counts  for 
very  little  with  us ;  and  all  the  sayings  that  we  remember 
for  their  verbal  point.  Knowledge  reduced  to  language 
is  remembered  by  us  partly  through  the  coherence  of  the 
subject  matter,  and  partly  through  the  coherence  of  the 
words  employed.  Moreover,  the  synonyms  of  language 
are  in  great  part  grouped  by  our  verbal  memory;  and 
this  extends  beyond  vocables  to  synonymous  construc- 
tions and  varied  expressions  for  the  same  thing.  Of 
course,  all  that  part  of  the  retention  of  foreign  languages 
that  is  dependent  on  associating  the  mother  name  with 
its  foreign  equivalent  comes  under  the  same  head.  The 
extreme  case  is  the  acquirement  of  languages  by  the 
philologist  for  purely  philological  comparisons. 


AIDS  TO  ACQUISITION.  3^9 

These  purely  verbal  associations,  required  in  such 
mimense  numbers,  must  be  regarded  as  a  disagreeable 
necessity;  it  is  only  by  accident,  that  they  are  interesting 
in  themselves.  Who  can  feel  any  charm  in  committing 
to  memory  the  list  of  irregular  verbs  and  their  irregu- 
larities ?  The  conditions  that  regulate  our  progress  in 
this  department  are  those  that  reign  in  all  the  dr>'est 
parts  of  knowledge.  The  plastic  forces  must  operate 
A^ithout  depending  on  any  stimulus  of  charm  or  Hking 
for  the  work. 

The  recognized  principles  of  economy  in  acquisition 
need  to  be  sedulously  attended  to,  wherever  the  ele- 
ments are  both  multitudinous  and  unattractive.  The 
work  has  to  be  divided  into  portions  for  each  day's 
share ;  there  is  a  proper  allowance  of  time,  strength,  and 
attention,  during  the  plastic  periods  of  the  day ;  the  tasks 
are  repeated  carefully  to  the  master,  and  stamped  with 
his  imprimatur  and  approval.  Rehearsals  of  foregone 
tasks  are  made  at  due  inter\'als.  The  young  are  stimu- 
lated by  small  gifts.  These  are  the  chief  devices  for 
overcoming  dulness  in  all  lessons  of  detail. 

As  to  the  particular  case  of  word-lessons,  there  are 
facilitating  arts  that  the  careful  teacher  does  not  overlook. 
Their  mode  of  presentation  to  the  mind,  if  by  oral  ut- 
terance, should  be  characterized  by  clear,  distinct,  and 
even  pleasing  tones  ;  if  by  writing  or  print,  the  cha- 
racters should  be  plain,  the  lists  symmetrically  arranged. 
It  is  also  a  valuable  aid  to  copy  out  carefully,  important 
lists,  schemes  of  declension  and  conjugation,  and  other 
technicalities.  This  is  known  to  be  one  of  th6  ways  of 
stimulating  attention,  at  least  so  long  as  copying  is  not 
a  mere  mechanical  exercise. 


320  LANGUAGE   TEACHING   GENERALLY 

Next  to  these  devices  for  the  judicious  management 
of  the  plastic  faculty,  we  have  the  arts  special  to  veibal 
acquisition,  including  the  schemes  of  technical  memory. 

It  is  a  well  known  means  of  alleviating  the  burden  of 
language  details,  to  be  able  to  detect  latent  similarities 
in  the  words  to  be  associated,  as  in  learning  German, 
French  and  Latin.  Many  such  similarities  are  open  and 
apparent ;  others  can  be  made  apparent  by  slight  trans- 
mutations, which  the  teacher  or  dictionary  can  point  out. 
This  is  the  philological  aid  to  the  study  of  foreign  lan- 
guages. 

The  technical  memory  proceeds  upon  various  other 
arts.  The  learning  of  lists  of  words  is  facilitated  by  the 
ancient  device  of  casting  them  into  verse;  the  saving 
by  this  means  must  be  pronounced  considerable.  The 
making  up  of  an  intelligent  sentence  would  have  a 
similarly  good  effect;  if  the  meaning  were  at  all  in- 
teresting, this  plan  would  excel  the  other. 

Alphabetical  arrangement  renders  a  train  of  words 
much  easier  to  acquire ;  the  link  of  alphabetical  sequence 
being  a  sure  one,  lends  itself  as  a  help  to  the  memory  of 
words.  Unless  there  be  some  special  reason  against  it, 
this  arrangement  should  always  be  followed. 

Another  device  still  more  peculiarly  technical  is  the 
arranging  of  words  in  such  a  way  that  the  meanings 
have  some  natural  connection  calculated  to  aid  the 
memory.  This  is  a  modification  of  the  topical  memory 
of  the  ancient  orators. 

With  a  view  to  the  firm  and  permanent  association 
of  one  word  with  another  word,  there  should  be  a  mo- 
ment of  isolated  and  concentrated  attention  upon  the 
two.     This  is  gained  in  various  ways.     The  turning  up  a 


VARIOUS  METHODS.  32 1 

dictionary  is  the  commonest  way  of  isolating  the  atten- 
tion ;  to  a  young,  fresh  memory,  one  dictionary  reference 
is  usually  enough,  provided  the  words  soon  recur.  An- 
other way  is  to  hear  the  words  deliberately  pronounced 
by  the  master  in  translating  a  passage.  The  Hamiltonian 
method  does  not  provide  for  the  isolating  of  the  atten- 
tion upon  single  words.  A  better  method  seems  to  be 
to  prepare  a  series  of  exercises,  each  embodying  two  or 
three  (and  no  more)  new  words. 

The  mode  of  teaching  languages  in  use  in  this  country 
usually  throws  upon  the  pupil  the  labour  of  finding  out 
the  meaning  of  a  passage,  in  the  first  instance,  by  the 
help  of  the  dictionary;  this  being  corrected  and  im- 
pressed by  the  repetition  under  the  master.  There  seems 
no  reason  why  this  should  not  be  combined  with  a  little 
oi  the  other  method,  namely,  for  the  master  to  expound 
a  passage  fully,  in  the  first  instance,  and  then  require 
the  pupils  to  reproduce  it  next  day,  by  memory,  aided, 
if  need  be,  by  a  reference  to  the  dictionary  when  some- 
thing has  been  forgotten.  One  portion  of  a  prescribed 
lesson  might  be  given  in  this  way,  and  the  second  por- 
tion left  to  the  old  method.  No  doubt  the  method  of 
prior  exposition  is  best  suited  to  scientific  lessons,  as 
Geometry,  but  it  is  not  wholly  unsuitable  to  lessons  of 
pure  memory. 

I  am  waiving  for  the  present  all  questions  as  to  the 
grammatical  teaching  of  language,  and  am  merely  ad- 
ducing situations  where  the  joining  of  word  to  word  is 
the  essential  fact. 

In  an  interesting  lecture  by  Mr.  Alexander  J.  Ellis, 
on  the  Teaching  of  Language,  I  find  great  stress  laid  on 
the  statistical  valuing  of  words  according  to  their  fre- 


322  LANGUAGE  TEACHING   GENERALLY. 

quency  of  recurrence.  It  is  urged  by  Mr.  Ellis  that  this 
relative  frequency  should  determine  the  order  of  presen- 
tation of  words  in  exercises.  The  plan  is  carried  out 
by  Mr.  David  Nasmith  in  reference  both  to  English  and 
to  German.  It  supposes  that  the  statistical  frequency  of 
words  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained.  The  full 
carrying  out  of  the  principle  would  embrace,  not  only 
words,  but  phrases. 

I  am  disposed  to  think  that  this  principle  might  have 
a  much  wider  application  than  to  language.  It  would 
be  well  if  we  could  forecast  the  probable  frequency  of 
the  use  of  every  acquisition  whatever,  so  that  we  might 
choose  by  preference  those  that  oftenest  come  into  play, 
and,  I  may  add,  on  the  most  important  occasions.  Such 
a  criterion  would  attest  the  high  value  of  the  Experi- 
mental Sciences,  such  as  Physics  and  Chemistry,  the 
smaller  but  yet  considerable  value  of  Mineralogy  and 
Botany,  and  the  very  small  value  of  many  things  much 
more  prominent  in  our  existing  educations  than  any 
of  these.  As  regards  languages,  however,  the  principle 
must  be  somewhat  qualified.  Although  one  word  in  a 
language  may  not  occur  so  often  as  another,  the  two 
may  be  equally  essential  in  the  long  run  ;  and  it  is 
scarcely  worth  drawing  more  than  a  few  grades  of  dis- 
tinctions, beginning  at  the  most  indispensable  words  of 
all,  taking  next  those  that  occur  in  the  most  ordinary 
speech,  and  so  on  ;  leaving  to  the  last  the  rarer  and  more 
technical  or  abstruse  designations.  Besides,  the  mere  fact 
of  frequency  operates  of  itself ;  we  do  not  need  an  arti- 
ficial scheme  in  order  to  bring  forward,  at  an  early  stage, 
the  recurring  words  ;  we  need  only  keep  back  for  a  time 
the  words  that  are  not  frequent  or  essential.     Yet  if  a 


INTEREST  IN   THE   THINGS.  323 

word  has  to  be  learnt  sooner  or  later,  the  period  of  learn- 
ing it  cannot  signify  much  ;  the  bringing  forward  of  rare 
words  before  such  as  are  common,  could  not  in  the 
nature  of  things  be  carried  to  the  length  of  an  abuse. 

The  foregoing  considerations  belong  to  all  language, 
and  refer  to  the  most  characteristic  situation  of  language 
acquirement.  We  shall  now  turn  to  the  special  situa- 
tion of  learning  the  mother  tongue,  after  which  we  can 
resume  with  more  advantage  the  question  of  foreign 
languages. 

THE  MOTHER  TONGUE. 

At  all  the  stages  of  learning  the  mother  tongue,  the 
purely  verbal  exercises  are  more  or  less  accompanied 
with  the  occupation  of  the  mind  upon  things.  In  Gram- 
mar, the  disengagement  from  things  is  at  the  greatest. 

If  we  suppose  the  child  to  become  acquainted,-in  the 
first  instance,  with  a  variety  of  objects,  the  imparting  of 
the  names  is  a  welcome  operation,  and  the  mental  fusion 
of  each  name  and  thing  is  rapidly  brought  about.  Ac- 
cording as  the  object  named  has  been  fully  perceived, 
and  is  well  marked  out  from  other  objects,  the  learning 
of  the  name  is  easy.  If  the  objects  are  in  any  way  in- 
teresting, if  they  rouse  or  excite  attention,  their  names  are 
eagerly  embraced.  All  through  life  we  show  an  avidity 
for  knowing  the  names  of  persons,  operations,  places, 
circumstances,  that  awaken  our  regards.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  objects  are  but  languidly  cared  for,  or  if  they 
are  inconspicuous,  or  confused  with  other  things,  we  are 
indifferent  both  to  the  things  themselves  and  to  their 
designations.  In  this  case,  the  first  step  is  to  secure  a 
proper  impression  of  the  matter  to  be  named. 


324  THE  MOTHER  TONGUE. 

The  more  we  enquire  into  the  early  teaching  of  lan- 
guage, the  more  shall  we  find  it  to  be  in  great  part  the 
teaching  of  knowledge  under  difficulties.  The  child  is 
soon  brought  into  the  situation  of  having  to  comprehend 
consecutive  speech,  many  parts  of  which  are  devoid  of 
meaning.  But  to  explain  the  words  that  are  blank  to 
the  mind,  we  have  first  to  bring  before  the  view  things 
that  have  hitherto  been  entirely  unknown.  We  have  to 
communicate  a  knowledge  lesson,  supplemented  by  a 
verbal  lesson,  the  first  being  by  far  the  more  serious  of 
the  two;  indeed,  the  second  is  as  nothing,  after  complete 
success  in  the  first.  If  the  teacher  can  but  compass  the 
knowledge  difficulty,  he  does  not  need  any  extraordinary 
effiDrts  or  any  refined  methods  for  securing  the  adherence 
of  the  verbal  expression.  The  faculties  that  are  awake 
at  the  early  period  we  are  supposing,  are  more  sponta- 
neously adequate  for  learning  names  when  once  the 
things  are  conceived,  than  for  mastering  the  conceptions 
themselves. 

The  real  solution  of  the  difficulty  of  teaching  lan- 
guage at  the  first  stages  of  intelligence,  is  the  Object 
Lesson,  or  whatever  we  choose  to  call  the  beginnings  of 
imparted  knowledge. 

The  chief  bearing  of  language  on  the  situation  is 
this,  namely,  that  the  use  of  language,  in  speech  or  in 
books,  is  the  occasion  for  bringing  forward  the  things 
to  be  taught  and  explained.  The  best  form  of  intro- 
ducing a  fact  would  be  its  real  occurrence,  as  when  the 
child  sees  the  evening  star,  and  is  there  and  then  told 
something  about  it.  But  listening  to  talk,  and  book- 
reading,  bring  forward  things  without  any  reference  to 
their  actual  presentation ;  and  then  some  way  of  intro. 


LANGUAGE  BRINGS  UP  KNOWLEDGE.  325 

ducing  them  has  to  be  found ;  the  task  being  in  many 
instances  premature  and  impossible.^ 

It  is  in  the  situation  of  fragmentary  knowledge,  that 
the  verbal  memory  may  take  hold  of  language  without 
understanding,  of  which  enough  has  been  said  in  a 
former  connection  (p.  205.)  There  is  a  kind  of  pre- 
occupation of  the  mind  with  terms,  that  acts  as  a  spur 
to  seek  out  the  meanings  by  observing  the  occasions 
when  they  are  used.  The  child  may  be  familiarized 
with  a  name,  as  '  light,'  for  some  time  before  grasping 
the  sense.  There  is  a  sort  of  inductive  process  gone 
through,  in  singling  out  the  true  meaning  from  among 
the  surrounding  circumstances.  All  the  inductive 
methods  of  Logic  are  applied  by  the  child  in  connect- 
ing *  light '  with  its  true  meaning.  With  general  names, 
there  must  be  a  generalizing  operation,  as  in  arriving  at 
the  meaning  of  '  round,'  '  heavy,'  '  cold,*  '  motion.' 

All  this  is  but  the  language  side  of  knowledge,  and 
does  not  represent  language  culture  as  such,  or  what 
constitutes  the  domain  of  the  language  teacher.  Ir 
order  to  frame  a  special  language  department,  we  must 
assume  knowledge  as  at  a  stand-still,  and  consider  the 
different  ways,  for  better  or  for  worse,  of  expressing  any 
known  fact,  doctrine,  or  set  of  facts  or  doctrines.  The 
knowledge  teacher  provides  at  least  one  mode  of  stating 
what  he  communicates,  but  he  does  not  occupy  himself 

'  The  explanation  of  the  names  occurring  in  the  reading  lessons  is  a 
large  part  of  the  teacher's  work ;  and  the  best  methods  of  conducting  it 
deserve  to  be  studied.  It  follows  in  the  track  of  the  Object  Lesson  as  dis- 
cussed in  the  foregoing  chapter,  but  has  certain  distinctive  peculiarities. 
In  the  Appendix  I  supply  some  additional  illustrations  to  bring  out  the 
more  delicate  precautions  in  giving  Object  Lessons  in  their  ordinary  forms, 
and  advert  also  to  the  present  topic. 


326  THE   MOTHER    TONGUE. 

with  weighing  the  merits  of  all  the  different  possible 
verbal  statements  of  a  piece  of  information.  Division 
of  labour  is  necessary  to  educate  the  whole  man  ;  afford- 
ing, on  one  side,  breadth  of  knowledge,  on  the  other  side, 
sufficiency,  and  even  luxury,  of  expression. 

Let  us  assume  at  the  outset,  that  the  teacher  devotes 
himself  to  following  up,  or  if  need  be,  to  rectifying  the 
work  of  the  parent,  in  securing  good  articulation,  and 
pronunciation,  and  a  certain  propriety  of  accent  Nay 
more,  the  correction  of  vulgarisms  and  provincial  errors, 
might  be  attended  to  from  the  first  day  that  the  pupil 
enters  the  school;  there  is  no  need  to  wait  for  Grammar 
rules,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  grosser  errors  of  concord  prevail- 
ing among  the  lower  orders  in  this  country.  Although 
the  delicacies  of  syntax  cannot  be  given  by  the  ear,  the 
practice  of  the  more  educated  households  shows  that 
children  may  be  taught  at  once  to  say  '  he  is'  '  they  are,' 
'  that  (for  those)  sort  of  things,'  and  to  make  the  proper 
distinctive  applications  of  '  shall '  and  *  will,'  '  may '  and 
'can.'i 

The  real  division  of  labour  between  knowledge 
teaching  and  language  teaching  comes  into  prominence 
at  the  Grammar  stage;  we  do  not  confound  the  teaching 
of  Grammar  with  the  teaching  of  things.     It  is  one  of 


'  As  the  teacher,  in  the  National  school,  has  to  fight  against  the  force 
of  almost  unanimous  out-of-door  usage,  he  might  obtain  support  by  the  use 
of  a  little  printed  manual  of  the  prevailing  errors  or  vulgarisms  in  his 
district,  which  might  be  used  long  before  the  age  of  Grammar.  Such 
manuals  need  not  exceed  twenty  or  thirty  pages,  and  might  be  produced 
at  \hz  cost  of  a  halfpenny.  Their  diffusion  in  the  homes  of  the  pupils  would 
be  a  powerful  aid  to  the  influence  of  the  master.  They  could  bn  composed 
without  formal  rules,  but  with  a  sufficient  variety  of  examples  to  show 
correct  usage  in  all  ordinary  cases 


LANGUAGE  I-ESSONS   PROPER.  327 

the  advantages  of  a  grammatical  course  to  make  the 
distinction  apparent,  to  give  an  occasion  for  imparting 
language  lessons,  pure  and  simple.  At  the  previous 
stages  the  teacher  is  often  in  doubt  whether  his  teaching 
relates  to  things  or  to  language,  or  to  both ;  the  fact 
being,  that  he  is  always  fluctuating  between  the  two. 
The  following  remarks  are  intended  to  point  out  fully 
the  difference  of  the  two  lessons. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  the  explanation  of 
newly-occurring  terms  is  for  the  most  part  thing-know- 
ledge. When  the  word  *  slave '  is  presented  for  the  first 
time,  an  explanation  of  the  state  of  slavery  is  provided, 
whereby  a  new  idea  is  imparted  to  the  pupil.  This  is 
in  no  sense  a  word  lesson,  although  the  occurrence  of  a 
word  is  the  occasion  for  teaching  the  thing.  If  the  pupil 
has  had  prior  experience  of  things,  without  knowing 
their  names,  to  give  the  name  is  a  language  lesson: 
this  situation  is  not  so  frequent  as  the  other. 

The  first  decided  exemplification  of  language  lessons 
on  the  great  scale  is  the  teaching  of  synonymous  words. 
The  best  example  of  this  is  the  perpetual  passing  to  and 
fro  between  our  two  vocabularies— Saxon  and  Classical. 
The  pupils  bring  with  them  the  homely  names  for  what 
they  know,  and  the  master  translates  these  into  the  more 
dignified  and  accurate  names ;  or  in  reading,  he  makes 
the  learned  terms  intelligible  by  referring  to  the  more 
familiar.  The  multiplication  of  synonyms  may  be 
carried  farther,  by  adducing  figurative  and  poetical,  as 
w  ell  as  scientific,  equivalents.  Suppose  the  name  '  die,' 
or  '  death ' ;  the  learned  equivalent  is  '  mortality,'  but  the 
figurative  equivalents,  together  with  the  phrases  and  cir- 
cumlocutions, are  very  numerous — 'loss  of  life,'  'eternaJ 
23 


328  THE   MOTHER   TONGUE. 

sleep,' '  paying  the  debt  to  nature,' '  passing  out  of  being, 
'  extinction,'  '  separation  of  soul  and  body,'  '  sinking  into 
the  grave,'  *  going  to  our  long  home.'  Now  in  extend- 
ing the  list  of  these  equivalents,  the  teacher  is  giving  a 
verbal  or  language  lesson. 

There  is,  nevertheless,  a  subtle  reaction  of  the  know- 
ledge of  things,  even  in  this  exercise.  The  Figurative 
equivalents  imply  comparisons  between  the  subject  and 
other  subjects,  and  are  used  to  elucidate  or  intensify  the 
meaning,  provided  they  are  themselves  understood; 
while,  if  they  are  not  as  yet  understood,  the  teacher  may 
wish  to  make  them  so,  and  thereby  enter  upon  an  object 
lesson.  As  a  rule,  however,  such  digressions  should  be 
forborne;  if  the  figure  is  already  known,  it  will  work  its 
effect,  if  not,  it  will  do  nothing  for  the  present;  while 
the  name  may  be  associated  with  the  other  names  as  part 
of  the  stock  of  synonyms.  The  phrase  '  separation  of 
soul  and  body '  is  hardly  intelligible  to  children ;  but  a 
good  memory  could  learn  it  by  rote  as  a  designation  of 
death,  while  the  meaning  is  as  yet  very  faintly  con- 
ceived. 

The  explanation  of  figures  is  not  the  only  way  that 
a  lesson  in  synonyms  may  pass  into  a  knowledge  lesson 
It  is  the  fact  that  synonyms  are  rarely  identical;  they 
give  different  shades  or  degrees  of  meaning,  or  they 
present  a  thing  from  different  points  of  view,  or  they 
are  more  or  less  vague  or  precise.  Now  any  attempt 
to  point  out  these  distinctions  would  take  the  teacher 
into  the  knowledge  sphere.  '  Truth,'  '  verity,'  *  veracity,' 
•consistency,'  have  a  common  meaning,  with  differences 
that  prevent  their  indiscriminate  application.  To  point 
out  these  differences  is  to  give  a  lesson  in  the  subject 


KNOWLEDGE  CARRIES  LANGUAGE.  329 

matter  and  not  in  the  expression.  Such  lessons  are  not 
to  be  entered  upon  at  random. 

It  may  be  said  with  some  plausibility  that  names 
should  be  learned  at  the  time  that  we  are  informed  of 
the  exact  ideas  that  they  represent  And  no  doubt  this 
is  a  sound  principle,  and  is  to  be  respected  so  far,  that 
we  should  not  purposely  bring  forward  names  whose 
meanings  cannot  be  tal<en  in  at  the  same  time.  But  as 
we  cannot  keep  back  words  at  pleasure,  our  only  course 
is  to  let  them  be  known  with  such  vague  or  approximate 
signification  as  the  pupil  can  readily  imbibe,  leaving  their 
more  delicate  shades  to  be  gathered  by  subsequent  ex- 
perience. The  temporar)'  result  is  a  malaprop  use  of 
words.  The  permanent  utility  is  a  command  of  terms 
for  the  purposes  of  selection. 

Let  us  turn  now,  by  way  of  illustrative  contrast,  to 
the  knowledge-master  viewed  as  also  a  word-master. 
We  have  repeatedly  seen  that  the  proper  order  of  ac- 
quirement is — Thing  nrat,  Name  second;  which,  if 
rigidly  carried  out,  makes  the  knowledge-teacher  the 
sole  language-teacher.  The  limitations  have  just  been 
noticed,  and  will  appear  more  fully  at  an  after  stage.  In 
the  meantime,  we  are  able  to  show  that  even  as  regards 
the  wealth  of  synonyms,  the  knowledge-master  need  not 
be  much  behindhand.  It  is  not  his  purpose  to  exhaust 
all  the  conceivable  ways  of  expressing  every  fact  within 
his  subject ;  but  the  necessities  of  explanation,  when  the 
matter  is  difficult,  lead  him  to  cite  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  ways,  while  he  is  almost  sure  to  use  them  with 
discrimination. 

Thus,  to  take  the  force  of  Gravity.  The  teacher  in 
explaining  this  force,  must  trust  chiefly  to  exemplifying 


330  I'HE   MOTHER   TONGUE. 

it  by  familiar  facts,  as  the  descent  of  unsupported  bodies. 
But  he  does  not  neglect  the  reference  to  the  various  names 
that  have  been  used  in  connection  with  the  force:  - 
'weight,'  'downward  pressure/  'falling  to  the  ground,* 
'attraction,'  'drawing  together,'  'mutual  puUing,'  'de- 
flection from  a  straight  course.' 

Some  of  these  names  are  already  associated  in  the 
hearer's  mind  with  the  working  of  gravity,  and  others 
will  at  some  future  time  be  associated,  and  are  therefore 
advantageously  planted  in  the  memory.  The  language 
teacher  could  hardly  go  farther,  in  the  direction  of  mere 
synonyms,  at  least  until  he  leaves  the  strictly  scientific 
handling,  and  strays  into  the  fanciful  or  imaginative. 

Wide  knowledge,  gained  through  language  commu- 
nication, ensures  language  acquisitions  of  the  best  kind- 
those  that  are  fully  represented  by  meanings.  The  giving 
and  taking  of  names,  by  figurative  transfer,  is  a  purely 
language  manipulation  ;  but  it  proceeds,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, on  the  perceptions  of  things,  and  becomes  a 
matter  of  pure  naming  by  synonyms,  only  when  the 
figures  have  been  hackneyed  by  use. 

To  come  back  now  to  the  position  of  the  language 
master.  We  have  seen  how  he  enlarges  the  pupils'  vo- 
cabulary, by  adding  to  their  stock  of  equivalent  names. 
He  might  do  this  purposely  and  consciously,  in  every 
ordinary  reading  lesson ;  but  the  thing  comes  about,  with- 
out express  intention,  in  another  way.  I  have  already 
remarked  that  for  the  early  exercises  in  mere  reading, 
the  reading-books  provide  easy,  intelligible  stories,  or 
descriptions,  which  give  no  strain  to  the  attention,  and 
are  not  to  be  pressed  as  knowledge  lessons.  Now  these 
are  calculated  for  lessons  in  language  or  naming.     The 


COMMITTING   PASSAGES  TO   MEMORY.  33 1 

facts  are  familiar  and  easy ;  the  language  is  choice  and 
even  adorned,  being  much  above  what  the  pupils  are 
accustomed  to  in  connection  with  the  same  subjects  ; 
and  the  expectation  is  that  their  language  stores  will 
be  insensibly  increased  during  the  readings.  To  this 
end,  the  teacher  contributes  by  the  exercises  that  he 
founds  upon  the  passages.  In  making  the  pupils  re- 
member the  story,  its  connection  and  turns,  he  puts  a 
series  of  questions  to  be  answered  nearly  in  terms  of 
the  book,  or  in  varied  terms,  still  of  the  better  forms  of 
diction,  which  they  are  supposed  to  be  contracting  in 
the  course  of  their  reading.  Any  teacher  can  make  the 
most  of  this  situation,  if  he  will  only  realize  to  himself 
that  the  chief  point  of  his  teaching  at  this  stage  is  lan- 
guage, and  not  the  knowledge  of  things. 

We  are  now  at  the  point  for  considering  the  aids  to 
language  acquisition  by  committing  passages  to  memory, 
more  especially  poetry.  This  may  contribute  to  know- 
ledge, but  it  is  not  the  best  way  of  imparting  knowledge, 
and  its  value  must  be  appraised  rather  as  regards  lan- 
guage. It  is,  however,  one  of  the  oldest  devices  of 
teaching  ;  having  the  great  merit  of  being  plain  and 
manageable,  it  is  adapted  to  the  lowest  teaching  ca- 
pacity, and  nobody  can  say  that  it  is  devoid  of  useful 
results.  It  certainly  stamps  upon  the  mind  the  material 
both  of  thought  and  of  language,  and  they  must  be  very 
hopeless  subjects  that  cannot  turn  it  to  some  account 
In  the  schools  of  Greece,  the  children  committed  tc 
memory,  and  recited,  passages  from  the  poets.  Among 
the  Jews  the  duty  of  teaching  the  children  was,  until  a 
late  period  in  Jewish  history,  imposed  upon  the  parents, 
who  could  not  adopt  any  higher  method.    Moreover  the 


332  THE   MOTHER   TONGUE. 

substance  of  the  teaching  was  the  Law,  the  Old  Testament 
generally,  and  the  traditions  and  rules  of  the  Rabbis , 
none  of  this  could  be  anything  but  memor}'-  work.  Ii» 
all  modern  schools,  the  practice  exists  more  or  le«;s ;  in 
the  French  Lyc^es,  at  the  present  time,  the  culture  of 
style  is  largely  carried  on  through  the  practice  of  learn- 
ing by  heart  the  French  classics.  I  say  nothing  at 
present  of  the  learning  of  catechisms,  hymns,  and  Bible 
passages,  with  a  view  to  religious  education. 

Poetry  has  the  natural  preference  in  this  exercise. 
The  impressiveness  of  the  measure,  the  elevation  of  the 
style,  the  awakening  of  emotion,  favour  its  hold  on  the 
memory.  Now  a  store  of  remembered  poetry  is  a  trea- 
sure in  itself ;  its  first  effect  is  emotional,  and  its  second- 
ary uses  are  intellectual ;  it  contains  thoughts,  images 
and  language,  of  more  or  less  worth,  and  such  as  are 
capable  of  taking  part  in  our  future  intellectual  construc- 
tions. Impassioned  and  rhythmical  prose  holds  the  next 
place ;  if  it  be  inferior  in  form  to  poetry,  it  is  yet  more 
likely  to  be  available  in  our  own  compositions. 

To  make  poetry  a  source  of  pleasurable  recollections 
in  after  life,  it  should  be  congenial  from  the  first,  and  not 
too  much  of  a  mere  task.  The  best  of  all  our  poetry 
stores  are  voluntary ;  to  yield  pleasurable  emotion, 
an  acquirement,  like  mercy,  should  not  be  strained.  If 
it  is  to  be  made  a  task,  it  should  be  at  an  early  age. 
when  the  despotic  measures  of  the  school  are  less  taken 
to  heart,  and  easily  effaced.  From  seven  to  ten,  the 
mind  is  in  every  respect  more  pliable  to  this  particular 
work,  than  from  ten  to  fifteen. 

But  now  as  to  the  intellectual  worth  of  the  acquire 
ment,  more  especially  for  the  end  at  present  in  view^ 


PASSAGES  IN    POETRY  AND   IN    PROSE.  333 

progress  in  the  vocables  of  the  language.  Granting  -the 
facility  in  treasuring  up  compositions  in  poetry,  we  must 
not  be  blind  to  its  weaknesses.  The  form,  the  compact- 
ness, the  feeling,  the  touches  of  lofty  diction, — transport 
us  with  the  piece  as  a  whole,  without  our  troubling  our- 
selves about  the  meanings  of  the  parts,  least  of  all,  the 
individual  words.  It  is  only  in  the  greatest  masters, 
that  we  are  made  alive  to  the  sense  of  each  word,  and 
not  always  in  them.  Take  as  an  example,  the  following 
couplet,  and  note  the  sources  of  its  impressions  on  a 
youthful  mind: — 

Thy  spirit,  Independence,  let  me  share. 
Lord  of  the  lion  heart,  and  eagle  eye. 

It  is  quite  enough  to  commend  the  couplet  to  a  lusty 
youthful  soul,  that  it  draws  upon  the  egotistic  feeling, 
by  the  fact  of  sharing  the  spirit  of  some  lord,  no  matter 
who,  or  what,  he  is  the  lord  of.  The  meaning  of  *  Inde- 
pendence '  is  not  thought  of  at  all ;  nay,  little  is  done 
even  to  conceive  the  '  lion  heart '  or  *  eagle  eye.'  The  lines 
would  have  their  full  inspiration,  and  would  find  a  ready 
admission  to  the  young  memory,  if  they  were  written— 

Thy  spirit,  Mumbo-Jumbo,  let  me  share, 
Lord  of  the  Tweedle-dum  and  Noodle-three. 

It  thus  happens  that  poetry,  above  all  other  things, 
may  be  committed  to  memory  as  three-fourths  words, 
and  one-fourth  meaning.  It  is  enough  that  a  vague 
thread  of  sense  is  traceable,  provided  interesting  emo- 
tions are  kindled  in  its  track. 

Prose  passages  are  less  easy  to  commit,  but  more 
likely  to  be  turned  to  account,  than  poetry.  It  is  not, 
however,  the  highest  economy  to  prescribe  long  compo 


334  THE   MOTHER   TONGUE. 

sitions.  What  we  want  for  ready  use  is  a  well-turned 
sentence  form,  or  a  suitable  designation  or  phrase  for 
some  meaning  that  we  are  at  loss  to  render.  Now  the 
stringing  together  of  the  sentences  of  a  long  passage 
does  not  contribute  to  the  resuscitation  that  we  desire  ; 
this  is  served  more  by  the  impressing  of  sentences  indi- 
vidually, and  especially  such  as  have  some  marked  and 
valuable  characteristics,  either  in  structure  or  in  phrases. 
For  very  young  pupils,  these  exemplary  forms  cannot 
be  made  apparent ;  and  if  they  are  to  have  their  lan- 
guage memory  strictly  artificial,  it  can  only  be  by  the 
rote  memory  of  passages.  At  the  age  of  critical  under- 
standing, the  committing  of  pieces  at  length  should  give 
place  to  the  impressing  of  selected  examplars,  in  the 
shape  of  single  sentences  or  short  series  of  sentences,  made 
alive  by  critical  exegesis  or  the  singling-out  of  merits 
and  defects.  The  pupils  in  the  French  Lyc6es  should 
be  looked  upon  as  beyond  the  age  when  power  of  ex- 
pression is  best  cultivated  by  the  mechanical  memory 
of  passages  however  good.  The  practice  with  them 
savours  of  French  drill  and  of  inability  to  discriminate 
and  criticize.  The  pupil  will  willingly  absorb  into  his 
memory  sentences  and  short  passages  that  he  has  been 
awakened  to  appreciate  and  admire. 

With  advanced  pupils,  one  of  the  best  opportunities 
for  committing  to  memory  passages  of  poetry  and  ex- 
emplary prose,  is  in  connection  with  exercises  of  recita- 
tion and  delivery. 

The  foregoing  remarks  on  the  education  in  lan- 
guage by  itself  have  had  chiefly  in  view  mere  vu- 
cables,  although  the  illustration  has  sometimes  extended 
to  the  other  part  of  language,  namely,  Structure.     This 


SENTENCE  STRUCTURES.  335 

part  needs  to  be  more  closely  viewed  on  its  own  ac- 
count. In  the  practice  of  speech,  in  listening  to  speech, 
and  in  reading,  we  imbibe  the  structural  arrangements 
of  words  in  sentences  and  trains  of  sentences ;  and  the 
passages  that  we  learn  by  heart  give  us  models  of  sen- 
tences as  well  as  words  and  phrases.  Long  before  we 
grammatically  dissect  a  sentence,  we  are  supposed  to 
have  been  familiar  with  all  the  leading  varieties  of  sen- 
tence forms. 

Now  the  schoolmaster  may  allow  the  accumulation 
of  sentence  types  to  proceed  silently  with  the  reading 
lessons,  or  he  may  do  something  expressly  to  quicken 
the  process  of  stamping  them  on  the  memory.  I  assume 
that  the  age  of  Grammar  has  not  yet  arrived ;  and  hence 
the  sciettce  of  sentences  is  not  entered  upon.  That  age 
is,  nevertheless,  drawing  near;  and  there  may,  con- 
ceivably, be  a  preparation  for  it,  not  to  say  a  certain 
amount  of  independent  tuition  having  the  same  final 
result,  although  not  in  the  same  complete  form. 

As  has  been  said  of  vocables,  so  we  may  say  of 
sentences,  they  follow  the  acquirement  of  meanings 
or  thoughts.  A  fact  needs  a  sentence  to  express  it:  a 
simple  fact,  a  simple  sentence ;  a  complicated  fact,  a 
complicated  sentence.  *  The  sun  has  set,*  is  a  simple 
fact  in  simple  sentence  form.  *If  you  ascend  to  a  height 
you  will  see  the  sun  reappear,'  is  a  conditional  fact  in  a 
conditional  sentence.  If  we  have  learnt,  by  verbal  com- 
munication, many  simple  facts  and  many  complicated 
facts,  we  have  learnt  many  simple  sentences  and  many 
complicated  sentences.  What  more  do  we  want.?  The 
answer  is  that,  as  with  vocables,  there  is  great  conve- 
nience in  knowing  all  the  language  forms  for  the  same 


336  THE  MOTHER  TONGUE. 

fact,  simple  or  complicated.  The  learning  of  these 
additional,  or  supernumerary  forms,  is  an  education 
relating  not  to  things,  but  to  language. 

As  with  vocables,  sentence  forms  are  best  learnt  in 
company  with  the  knowledge  that  they  are  to  express, 
and  should  not  be  made  to  precede  that  knowledge.  The 
limitations  to  the  principle  have  been  sufficiently  given. 

Now  as  to  the  schoolmaster's  province,  in  teaching 
or  impressing  these  forms.  The  analogy  of  vocables 
still  applies.  The  teacher  having  before  him  a  given 
sentence,  expressing  a  certain  piece  of  information,  can 
point  out  to  his  pupils,  and  exercise  them  in  discerning 
and  producing  other  sentence  arrangements,  with  or  with- 
out variation  of  the  words  employed.  This  is  the  best 
device  yet  promulgated  for  anticipating  the  formal 
teaching  of  Grammar ;  only;  it  must  be  done  upon 
system,  although  the  system  need  not  be  obtruded  on 
the  pupils.  When  we  come  to  put  the  question — What 
does  Grammar  (in  our  own  language)  do  for  usi* — we  shall 
find  that  this  is  one  of  its  chief  benefits. 

Among  the  most  simple  examples  of  equivalence  is 
the  change  from  the  Active  to  the  Passive  Voice — 'Caesar 
invaded  Britain,'  'Britain  was  invaded  by  Caesar.'  Another 
is  the  interchange  of  Noun  and  Pronoun.  We  may 
further  cite  the  conversion  of  Nouns  into  Noun  clauses, 
of  Adjectives  into  phrases  and  clauses,  of  Adverbs  (single 
words)  into  phrases  and  clauses. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  preparatory  exercises  of 
equivalence  is  the  filling  up  of  omissions  or  ellipses,  so 
common  in  every  language  as  to  be  an  authorized  fact 
of  the  language.  Half  the  difficulties  of  grammatical 
parsing  grow  out  of  these  ellipses.     '  Please  to  give  me 


VARIATIONS   IN  ARRANGEMENT.  337 

something  to  drink '  is  a  grammatical  puzzle  till  the  full 
expression  is  given — '  May  it  please  you  to  give  me 
something  that  I  may  drink.'  The  use  of  nouns  as  ad- 
jectives is  altogether  elliptical — 'stone  walls,'  'walls  that 
are  made  of  stone.'  Another  important  contraction  is 
the  turning  of  clauses  into  abstract  nouns — '  What  we 
see,  we  believe,'  '  seeing  is  believing,'  '  sight  is  belief.' 

The  arrangement  of  words  and  clauses  in  sentences 
admits  of  great  variation.  Qualifying  words  may  either 
precede  or  follow  the  words  qualified,  but  there  is  usually 
one  arrangement  that  is  best  in  the  particular  case.  At 
the  early  stages,  of  the  exercise,  there  is  little  attempt 
made  to  show  preferences ;  the  perception  of  the  pupils 
is  not  sufficiently  advanced;  but  opportunities  should  be 
taken  of  leading  them  on  to  this  point,  which  is  the  goal 
of  all  language-teaching: 

The  teacher  can  form  to  himself  a  scheme  of  varia- 
tions, for  which  Grammar  and  his  own  sense  will  be  the 
guide.  He  will  not  iterate  easy  changes,  nor  harp  upon 
such  as  are  .devoid  of  importance.  He  will  know  what 
are  the  variations  most  needed  in  composition,  and  most 
adapted  to  bring  out  clearness  and  succinctness  of  ex- 
pression ;  but  he  will  not  as  yet  divulge  his  motives  or 
his  reasons.  Although  it  is  enough  for  him  to  have  in 
view  the  exigencies  of  Grammar,  he  may  also  ring  a 
few  of  the  rhetorical  changes  that  are  of  common  oc- 
currence— as  inversion  of  subject  and  predicate,  interro- 
gation, exclamation,  metaphor  and  metonymy.* 

'  The  methods  of  teaching  by  means  of  Equivalent  Forms  has  been 
systematically  and  fully  exemplified  in  a  First  Work  on  English,  by  Mr.  A. 
F.  Murison.  The  plan  of  the  work  is  accommodated  to  a  complete  view 
ol  the  Parts  of  Speech,  and  the  Analysis  of  the  Sentence;  while  it  niaybt 


33^  TEACHING   GRAMMAR. 

By  far  the  most  searching  equivalence  of  verbal  forms 
is  Obversion,  or  the  stating  of  a  fact  from  its  other  side; 
•  virtue  is  praiseworthy,'  '  vice  is  blameworthy.'  '  Thrice- 
armed  is  he  that  hath  his  quarrel  just ; '  'naked  is  he  whose 
quarrel  is  unjust'  '  Heat  favours  vegetation,'  'cold  retards- 
it.'  This  passes  beyond  mere  grammar ;  it  is  profoundly 
logical  and  also  rhetorical ;  while  as  a  discipline  it  is  one 
of  the  most  effective  exercises  that  has  hitherto  been 
discovered.  Quietly,  unostentatiously,  might  a  teacher 
now  and  then  require  this  operation  to  be  performed  by 
a  class  in  some  favourable  instance,  and  the  result  would 
be  stimulating  to  a  degree.  It  should  only  be  done  if 
the  case  carries  tvith  it  its  own  explanation.  *  If  virtue 
is  praiseworthy,'  what  are  we  to  say  of  the  opposite  of 
virtue,  vice  .■'  Any  pupil  of  eight  would  be  ready  with  a 
reply.* 

TEACHING    GRAMMAR. 

The  exact  scope  and  suitable  choice  of  these  fore- 
shadowings  of  the  regular  Grammar  will  be  rendered 
still  more  apparent  by  a  full  consideration  of  the  greatly- 
vexed  matter  of  Grammar  teaching. 

used  either  in  advance  of  the  grammatical  definitions,  or  along  with  them. 
Especially  valuable  is  t^e  exemplification  of  Ellipsis,  which  contains  the 
best  key  hitherto  furnished  to  those  numerous  subtleties  of  our  Grammar 
that  originate  in  abbreviation. 

*  Take  an  easy  example  of  the  variations  contemplated  : — The  sun  is  up, 
is  risen,  is  above  the  horizon,  has  ascended,  has  mounted  up  the  sky,  has 
come  into  sight,  has  resumed  his  empire  ;  is  no  longer  down,  beneath  the 
horizon,  concealed  from  view,  dethroned.  The  verbal  changes  that  may  be 
rung  upon  the  influence  of  the  solar  ray  are  still  more  numerous. 

The  synonyms  for  birth,  life,  and  death  are  inexhaustible ;  they  stretch 
away  into  wide  regions  both  of  fact  and  of  imagination.  From  Homer 
downward,  poets  have  been  adding  to  the  stock  of  expressive  phrases  foi 
mortality. 


OUR   POSITION   IN   BEGINNING   GRAMMAR.       339 

We  are  too  much  given  to  supposing  that  the  neces- 
sities and  the  benefits  of  Grammar  are  the  same  for  our 
own  and  for  foreign  languages;  yet  the  difference  of 
situation  is  considerable.  Before  we  begin  our  own 
Grammar,  we  have  learnt,  in  a  desultory  fashion,  the 
great  body  of  what  it  teaches ;  when  we  begin  the  Latin 
Grammar,  we  find  everything  new.  We  could  go  on 
speaking  and  writing  our  own  language  very  well  with- 
out having  ever  seen  a  Grammar;  we  could  not  read 
a  sentence  in  Latin,  without  some  previous  grammatical 
teaching. 

This  last  condition  might  be  evaded,  by  our  being 
put  through  a  course  for  a  dead  language  similar  to  what 
we  have  gone  through  for  our  own ;  but  the  process  is  a 
clumsy  attempt  at  reproducing  a  situation  that  cannot 
be  reproduced ;  the  only  thing  approaching  to  it,  being 
the  learning  of  a  foreign  living  language  by  residence  in 
the  country.  In  beginning  any  new  language,  if  we  are 
at  an  age  when  the  knowing  and  reasoning  faculties  are 
operative,  our  quickest  course  is  to  learn  the  Grammar. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  The  Grammar  abridges  the 
labour,  by  generalizing  everything  that  can  be  gene- 
ralized. 

No  doubt  the  rules  and  the  usages  are  sadly  cumbered 
with  exceptions,  which  make  the  acquisition  burdensome; 
but  that  is  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  dispensing  with 
them.  Cobbett,  in  his  self-willed  way  of  doing  things, 
proposed  to  set  aside  the  rules  for  distinguishing  the 
P'rench  genders,  and  to  adopt  a  scheme  of  mastering 
them  in  detail  by  writing  out  all  the  nouns  in  the  French 
dictionary.  It  could  easily  be  shown  not  only  that  this 
would  be  a  much  greater  strain  upon  the  memory  than 


340  TEACHING  GRAMMAR. 

the  whole  body  of  rules  together  with  the  exceptions, 
but  that  the  learner  would  unconsciously  resort  to  the 
plan  of  making  rules  for  himself  out  of  the  uniformities 
that  presented  themselves  in  the  operation  ;  as,  for  ex- 
ample, the  feminine  gender  of  the  abstract  nouns. 

Let  us  enquire  closely  into  the  real  uses  of  Grammai ; 
these  will  furnish  the  best  guide  as  to  the  manner  ol 
teaching  it. 

I.  The  avoidance  of  the  grosser  forms  of  grammatical 
impropriety  is  a  proper  object  of  instruction,  but  does 
not  need  the  amount  of  technical  matter  found  in 
grammars  of  the  present  day.  The  vulgar  errors  in 
concord  could  be  met  by  a  much  simpler  means  already 
adverted  to.  But  the  thorough  expurgation  of  impro- 
prieties in  the  grammatical  form  of  composition,  could 
not  be  easily  achieved  without  a  much  fuller  scheme,  in- 
volving what  is  the  essential  technicality  of  grammar — 
the  laying  out  of  the  Parts  of  Speech,  on  which  are 
founded  Inflexion  and  Syntax.  A  few  persons,  ac- 
customed only  to  the  best  forms  of  'the  language,  might 
approximate  to  a  faultless  style  without  grammar  teach- 
ing ;  but  not  so  the  general  mass.  By  the  ear  alone,  we 
may  be  taught  to  avoid  '  houses  is ' ;  but  the  insidious 
breaches  of  concord  due  to  the  distance  of  the  subject  and 
the  verb — '  the  price  put  upon  the  houses  are,'  can  hardly 
be  explained  without  the  terminology  of  Grammar.  So, 
'shall'  and  'will,' and  'should'  and  'would,' in  commoner 
cases,  may  be  correctly  discriminated,  but  not  in  the  more 
delicate  or  involved  constructions,  without  grammatical 
assistance. 

2.  It  is,  to  my  mind,  a  circumstance  of  some  value 
in  favour  of  grammar  that  by  it,  for  the  first  time,  the 


DISTINCTIVE  USES  OF  GRAMMAR.  341 

teacher  isolates  the  attention  of  the  pupils  upon  the 
language  by  itself.  I  have  just  been  depicting  a  series 
of  supposed  lessons  on  language  as  such,  before  the  age 
of  grammar,  and  calculated  to  prepare  for  the  formal 
teaching ;  but  these  lessons  are  of  my  own  imagining ; 
they  have  not  yet  been  adopted  in  the  current  teaching. 
Teachers  are  feeling  their  way  to  a  division  of  labour 
between  knowledge  lessons  and  language  lessons  prior 
to  the  formal  teaching  of  the  grammar;  but  speaking 
generally,  there  is  as  yet  little  attention  paid  to  the 
structure  of  sentences,  until  forced  on  by  the  exercises 
in  grammatical  parsing.  It  is  the  grammar  that  solves 
the  question — How  shall  we  bring  the  pupils  under  a 
discipline  in  the  forms  of  the  language  irrespective  of 
the  matter  ?  Whether  this  is  a  good  in  itself,  depends  on 
the  next  position. 

3.  It  is  an  aid  to  readiness,  ease,  correctness,  and 
effectiveness  of  composition,  to  be  led  to  examine  the 
structure,  arrangement,  and  constituents  of  the  sentence. 
We  may  dispense  with  this  training,  but  it  will  be  to  our 
loss ;  we  shall  not  compass  the  arts  of  style  so  rapidly 
in  any  other  way.  This  supposes  a  function  of  Grammar 
beyond  avoiding  censurable  improprieties  or  violations 
of  usage.  That  there  is  such  a  function  has  been  al- 
ready indicated.  That  consideration  of  equivalent  sen- 
tence forms  which  might  be  induced  without  the  aid  of 
grammar,  is  almost  compelled  in  the  act  of  teaching 
grammar.  Only  a  very  mechanical  system  of  parsing 
can  keep  clear  of  it. 

This  position  ought  to  be  self-evident.  It  may  be 
illustrated  thus.  Suppose  anyone  at  a  loss  to  express  a 
given  meaning.     The  difficulty  is  due  in  the  first  instance 


342  TEACHING  GRAMMAR. 

to  want  of  vocables,  and  next  to  want  of  resource  in 
shaping  sentences.  How  do  we  get  experience  on  the 
last  head  ?  Partly,  no  doubt,  by  extensive  reading,  but 
equally  by  the  habit  of  dissecting,  putting  together  and 
varying  the  sentences  that  come  up  for  review  in  lan- 
guage lessons.  Teachers  should  be  fully  alive  to  the 
importance  of  the  fact,  and  should  conduct  grammar 
parsing  in  accordance  with  it.  That  is  to  say,  the  words 
are  to  be  parsed  in  their  connections,  and  with  reference 
to  their  functions,  as  principals  or  as  qualifying  words, 
and  as  to  their  efficiency  for  their  ends,  when  compared 
with  other  equivalent  words.  This  is  to  rehearse  in 
advance  the  actual  situation  of  the  pupils  when  they  shall 
have  to  engage  in  composition  on  their  own  account. 

The  Parts  of  Speech,  and  Syntax — in  so  far  as  it  is 
concerned  with  the  Analysis  of  Sentences,  and  Order  of 
Words — are  the  portions  of  grammar  most  directly 
implicating  sentence-structure. 

4.  Grammar  contributes,  in  some  of  its  departments, 
to  the  pupils'  wealth  in  the  vocables  of  the  language. 
The  iteration  of  examples  everywhere  has  this  effect; 
but  the  departments  of  Derivation  and  Inflexion  are 
more  expressly  concerned.  Under  Derivation,  consider- 
able portions  of  the  vocabulary  pass  under  review,  and 
are  lodged  in  the  memory.  The  comparison  of  Saxon 
with  foreign  elements  is  an  exercise  in  naming.  The 
study  of  prefixes  and  suffixes  extends  the  familiarity 
with  our  means  of  expression,  by  showing  the  compass 
attained  through  the  Composition  of  words.  This  has 
the  recommendation  of  being  free  from  all  technical 
difficulties  and  abstruseness,  for  which  reason  it  has 
been  recommended  as  the  branch  best  suited  for  a  com- 


AID   TO   ACCUMULATING   VOCABLES.  -     343 

mencement  in  grammatical  training.  Next,  as  regards 
Inflexion.  The  lists  of  words  brought  forward  in  exem- 
plifying gender  and  number  make  some  impression,  and 
contribute  to  our  readiness  in  remembering  the  words 
when  they  are  wanted.  Teachers  do  well  not  to  make 
a  point  of  burdening  the  routine  memory  with  the 
strings  of  words  adduced  in  these  subjects;  there  is 
more  likelihood  of  a  lasting  result  being  obtained  by  the 
spontaneous  and  unavoidable  dwelling  up>on  them  for 
the  exemplification  of  the  rules,  and  this  too  is  favour- 
able to  the  recovery  of  the  individual  names  for  use 
in  composition. 

Inflexion  is  the  chief  burden  of  the  Latin  Grammar; 
there,  it  is  the  sole  means  of  distinguishing  the  Parts  of 
Speech.  Hence  Latin  Grammar  is  much  easier — more 
a  work  of  memory  and  less  a  work  of  reason — than 
English  Grammar.  Had  Latin  been  our  native  tongue, 
and  English  one  of  the  dead  languages,  the  proposal  to 
make  the  foreign  Grammar  precede  our  own  would 
have  been  denounced  as  monstrous. 


TJte  age  for  commencing  Grammar. 

Many  persons  are  beginning  to  see  the  mistake  of 
commencing  Grammar  with  children  of  eight  or  nine 
years  of  age.  Experience  must  have  impressed  teachers 
with  the  futility  of  the  attempt.  Simplifications  of 
various  kinds  have  been  tried.  Easy  ways  of  presenting 
the  subject  have  been  suggested  to  commence  with;  the 
difficulties  being  postponed.  Unfortunately  for  such 
attempts,  the  difficulties  lie  at  the  threshold,  and  cannot 
be  evaded  without  rendering  the  entire  subject  a  nullity. 
24 


344     '  TEACHING   GRAMMAR. 

The  Parts  of  Speech  cannot  be  understood  at  all  unless 
they  are  understood  fully. 

When  a  pupil  can  be  made  to  understand  that  a 
Sentence  is  made  up  of  a  Subject  and  a  Predicate,  that 
the  predicate  may  be  completed  by  an  Object,  and  that 
subject,  object  and  predicate  may  be  qualified  by  secon- 
dary words, — a  beginning  may  be  made  in  Grammar. 
It  is  further  to  be  desired  that  the  logical  notions  of 
Individual,  General  and  Abstract,  should  be  understood 
by  the  pupil ;  for  all  these  are  essential  to  an  intelligent 
grasp  of  the  Noun  and  the  Adjective.  A  certain  amount 
of  subtlety  is  needed  to  discern  the  meaning  of  words 
of  relation,  by  which  grammarians  describe  Pronouns, 
Prepositions  and  Conjunctions  ;  and  this  subtlety  sup- 
poses the  pupil  to  have  attained  a  certain  age. 

The  suggestion  is  often  made,  and  is  probably  acted 
on  by  some  teachers,  to  teach  grammar  without  book ; 
on  the  assumption  that  the  difficulties  are  not  inherent 
in  the  subject,  but  come  into  being  when  it  is  reduced 
to  form  and  put  into  the  pupils'  hands  in  print.  There 
must  be  some  fallacy  here.  What  is  printed  is  only  what 
is  proper  to  be  said  by  word  of  mouth ;  and  if  the  teacher 
can  express  himself  more  clearly  than  the  best  existing 
book,  his  words  should  be  written  down  and  take  the 
place  of  the  book.  No  matter  w^jat  may  be  the  peculiar 
felicity  of  the  teacher's  method,  it  may  be  given  in  print 
to  be  imitated  by  others,  and  so  introduce  a  better  class 
of  books;  the  reform  that  proposes  to  do  away  with 
books  entirely,  thus  ending  in  the  preparation  of  another 
book. 

Perhaps  the  teacher  will  reply  that  he  does  not  pro- 
pose anything  absolutely  original,  but  merely  to  select 


WORKING  WITHOUT   BOOK.  345 

such  points  as  the  pupils  can  understand,  being  guided 
by  his  natural  tact  and  judgment  as  to  what  he  finds  to 
succeed.  Even  so,  it  is  quite  possible  to  embody  this 
selection  in  a  permanent  form ;  and  what  is  good  for  one 
class  is  likely  to  answer  for  other  classes  at  the  same 
stage.  Again,  it  may  be  said  that  the  children  are  not 
of  an  age  to  imbibe  the  doctrines  from  a  printed  book, 
but  can  understand  them  when  conveyed  with  the  living 
voice.  There  is  much  truth  in  this,  b.ut  it  does  not  go 
the  length  of  superseding  the  book,  which  will  still  have 
a  value  as  a  means  of  recalling  what  the  teacher  has 
said,  and  as  the  basis  of  preparation  to  answer  questions 
thereon.  If  a  class  is  to  be  taught  purely  vivd  voce,  its 
progress  must  needs  be  very  slow ;  the  proceeding  be- 
longs to  the  infantile  stages,  when  slowness  is  not  an 
objection. 

To  teach  Grammar  without  a  printed  text,  is  like 
teaching  Religion  without  a  manual  or  catechism ;  either 
the  teacher  still  uses  the  catechism,  without  the  print, 
or  he  makes  a  catechism  for  himself.  There  can  be  no 
teaching  except  on  a  definite  plan  and  sequence,  and 
good,  instead  of  harm,  arises  from  putting  the  plan  in 
print.  The  grammar  teacher,  working  without  books, 
either  tacitly  uses  some  actual  grammar,  or  else  works 
upon  a  crude,  untested,  irresponsible  grammar  of  his 
own  shaping. 

Taking  English  Grammar  as  a  whole,  easy  parts  and 
difficult  together,  I  venture  to  think  that  it  cannot  be 
effectively  taught  to  the  mass  before  ten  years  of  age.  To 
smooth  ever  the  asperities,  and  to  pick  out  what  happens 
to  be  simple,  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  an  earlier  age,  is  not 
to  teach  the  subject  in  its  proper  character,  but  as  a 


346  TEACHING   GRAMMAR. 

mongrel  compound,  half-understood  and  quite  inade- 
quate for  the  ends  of  grammar.  It  is  the  worst  economy 
to  anticipate  the  mind's  natural  aptitude  for  any  subject ; 
and  the  aptitude  for  Grammar  in  its  true  sense  does  not 
exist  at  eight  or  nine  years  of  age,  I  have  already  ex- 
pi'essed  the  opinion  that  it  is  more  difficult  than  Arith- 
metic, and  is  probably  on  a  par  with  the  beginnings  of 
Algebra  and  Geometry.  Commenced  at  a  ripe  age,  not 
only  is  the  tedium  of  the  acquisition  vastly  reduced,  but 
the  advantages  are  realized  in  a  way  that  is  impossible 
when  it  is  entered  on  too  soon. 

This  postponement  is  open  to  one  and  only  one  real 
objection,  so  far  as  I  am  aware.  It  leaves  a  gap  in  the 
teaching  that  there  is  some  difficulty  in  filling  up.  If  the 
teacher  is  to  exclude  grammar,  he  must  exclude  English 
exercises  entirely,  and  make  the  whole  of  his  teaching, 
as  far  as  concerns  the  reading  part,  consist  of  knowledge 
lessons,  in  which  region  also  he  often  incurs  the  evil  of 
attempting  matters  too  high  for  the  pupils  at  the  time. 
There  would  seem  to  be  an  absolute  necessity  for  contriv- 
ing lessons  in  English,  whether  amounting  to  grammar 
or  not.  The  difficulties  of  grammar  are  the  difficulties  of 
all  science — generalities  couched  in  technical  language ; 
and  there  is  a  possible  preparation  of  the  concrete  and 
the  empirical  here  as  in  other  scierices. 

This  brings  us  back  to  what  has  been  said  already 
as  to  the  province  of  the  teacher  in  regard  to  expres- 
sion as  distinct  from  the  thought  or  meaning  ;  namely, 
exercising  the  pupils  in  equivalent  forms,  while  at  the 
same  time  adding  to  their  stock  of  vocables  by  practice 
in  synonyms.  Whether  or  not  this  be  a  direct  prepara- 
tion   for  grammar,   it  is  a  preparation  for  the  end   of 


PREPARATORY   EXERCISES.  347 

grammar — the  power  of  composition — and  would  not  be 
lost  even  if  the  regular  or  technical  grammar  were  never 
reached. 

The  more  special  preparation  for  the  formal  study  of 
the  grammar  would  be,  for  one  thing,  to  exemplify  the 
division  of  a  sentence  into  its  subject  and  predicate, 
without  the  use  of  these  formidable  words.  Apropos  of 
a  sentence  of  information  about  something — 'the  fox 
is  a  very  crafty  animal ' — it  is  easy  to  ask  what  the 
saying  is  about  ?  The  fox.  What  is  said  about  the 
fox }  It  is  a  very  crafty  animal.  To  this  might  be 
added  exercises  in  the  names  of  objects,  so  as  to  bring 
out  the  difference  between  individuals  and  classes,  and 
to  show  how  the  class  noun  comes,  and  how  it  is  nar- 
rowed by  an  adjective  into  a  smaller  class.  These 
logical  distinctions  might  be  started  on  the  eve  of  enter- 
ing grammar,  say  a  few  months  in  advance.  They  are 
a  small  contribution  to  genuine  logic,  and  it  is  only 
through  them  that  grammar  can  be  cited  as  the  means 
of  a  logical  training.  Provided  with  such  a  discipline, 
the  pupil  can  make  an  effective  beginning  with  the  Parts 
of  Speech,  by  grappling  with  the  Noun,  its  definition  and 
its  kinds  ;  while  the  other  logical  notions  that  lie  ahead 
may  be  left  till  they  come  up.  I  will  instance  further 
the  important  distinction  between  co-ordination  and  sub- 
ordination, without  which  the  relative  pronouns  and  the 
conjunctions  are  dark  where  they  ought  to  be  in  a  blaze 
of  light. 

Two  years  before  the  age  of  grammar,  the  lesson  in 
English  might  be  isolated  in  the  reading.  This  is  the 
only  way  to  give  it  a  clear  locus  standi  in  education. 
Putting  a  grammar  question  or  two  during  an  informa- 


348  TEACHING   GRAMMAR. 

tion  lesson  is  a  kind  of  trifling.  If  the  information  is  of 
any  consequence,  it  needs  the  attention  to  be  kept  well 
upon  itself;  if  the  language  lesson  is  in  earnest,  it  equally 
wants  concentration  of  mind ;  and  the  rapid  shifting  to 
and  fro  rapidly  between  two  totally  different  studies  is 
adverse  to  both.  A  reading  lesson  is  (i)  a  lesson  for  the 
mechanical  art  of  reading,  together  with  speUing,  (2)  a 
lesson  in  information,  to  be  understood  and  remembered, 
and  (3)  a  lesson  in  language.  For  a  long  time,  the  first 
lesson  is  the  only,  thing  considered  :  by  and  by,  the 
second — the  information — is  taken  in  hand,  and  becomes 
a  more  and  more  engrossing  part  of  the  teacher's  work, 
carrying,  as  a  necessity,  language  with  it.  The  third 
stage — language  by  itself—  is  the  latest  of  the  three ;  and 
needs  a  special  handling,  which  will  not  be  given,  unless 
it  have  a  certain  hour  allotted  to  it  alone.  The  informa- 
tion passages  may  be  used  for  the  language  lesson,  but 
the  information  is  not  to  be  adverted  to  further  than  is 
necessai"y  for  considering  the  language ;  while  there 
may  be  passages  little  suited  for  information,  and  well 
suited  for  language;  such  are  extracts — poetry  and  prose, 
belonging  more  to  the  belles  lettres.  The  lessons  so  iso- 
lated would  be  driven  to  take  shape,  and  continuity ; 
they  would  inevitably  form  a  course,  each  lesson  follow- 
ing on  its  predecessor.  The  teacher  would  have  to  make 
up  his  mind  to  a  plan,  and  would  not  be  at  a  loss  to  find 
some  such  substitutes  for  the  beggarly  grammatical  ele- 
ments as  I  have  endeavoured  to  point  out.  The  occa- 
sional committing  of  short  elegant  passages  to  memoiy 
might  be  associated  with  the  language  lesson. 

When  the  age  of  Grammar  is  reached,  the  problem 


CERTAIN   DIFFERENCES   OF   OPINION.  349 

of  teaching  it  solves  itself.  It  is  a  practical  science, 
having  general  principles  which  become  rules ;  these 
need  to  be  explained  and  applied  to  the  particular  cases. 
Instead  of  adopting  devious  routes  to  escape  difficulties, 
tlie  teacher  now  follows  the  direct  course  as  chalked  out 
by  the  concurrence  of  the  best  grammarians.  There  is 
still  considerable  variation  of  views  as  to  the  working 
out  of  the  details ;  and  a  few  remarks  may  here  be 
offered  on  the  more  important  discrepancies. 

1.  I  hold  that  the  subject  of  Inflexion  should  be 
separated  from  the  Parts  of  Speech.  The  defining, 
classing,  and  exemplifying  of  the  Noun,  Pronoun,  &c. 
constitute  one  distinct  and  homogeneous  operation  ;  the 
inflecting  of  the  inflected  parts  is  quite  a  different  sub- 
ject, and  is  best  prosecuted  consecutively  and  without 
interruption. 

2.  The  '  Analysis  of  Sentences,'  which  has  been  the 
turning-point  of  the  radical  reform  in  the  Definition  of 
the  Parts  of  Speech,  is  not  yet  pushed  to  its  legitimate 
conclusion  in  amending  our  Syntax.  It  enables  us  to 
take  a  sentence  to  pieces,  and  it  puts  qualifying  phrases 
and  clauses  in  their  true  light  as  equivalents  of  nouns, 
adjectives,  and  adverbs ;  but  it»  leaves  out  of  view  the  con- 
sideration of  the  right  ordering  of  the  sentence  through 
the  proper  disposition  of  the  qualifying  adjuncts.  Yet 
this  has  more  to  do  with  good  composition,  than  all  the 
rest  of  the  grammar  put  together. 

3.  There  is  great  interest,  and  some  utility,  in  tracing 
the  course  of  our  language  from  the  more  ancient  dia- 
lects, but  this  subject  may  easily  run  to  a  disproportionate 
length  in  the  first  stages  of  English  teaching.  Present 
meaning  and  use  are  the  only  guidance  to  the  employ- 


350  THE   HIGHER   COMPOSITION. 

ment  of  the  language  ;  the  reference  to  archaic  forms  can 
sometimes  account  for  a  usage,  but  cannot  control  it. 

THE   HIGHER   COMPOSITION. 

Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  or  the  Higher  Composition, 
are  not  separated  by  any  hard  and  fast  line ;  yet  the 
two  departments  are  distinct.  To  be  grammatical  is  one 
thing ;  to  be  perspicuous,  terse,  or  unctuous,  is  another 
thing. 

In  the  view  we  have  taken  of  grammar  teaching, 
results  far  beyond  mere  correctness  are  attained.  Never- 
theless there  is  still  a  large  domain  of  instruction  in 
Style;  on  entering  which  new  methods  are  called  into 
play. 

Rhetoric,  like  grammar,  has  its  rules,  which  are  to 
be  understood,  exemplified,  and  carried  into  practice  in 
composition.  Moreover,  these  rules  must  be  embodied 
in  a  systematic  array ;  which  supposes  numerous  ex- 
planations and  definitions  of  important  terms.  The 
whole  subject  is  divided  into  two  Parts — one  on  Style 
in  General,  or  the  explanations,  rules,  and  principles, 
applicable  to  every  kind  of  composition  ;  the  other  on 
the  special  Forms  or  Kinds  of  Composition,  as  Descrip- 
tion, Narration,  Exposition,  Persuasion,  Poetry. 

In  a  separate  work  (*  English  Composition  and 
Rhetoric '),  I  have  indicated  what  I  consider  a  suitable 
arrangement  of  the  details  of  the  subject,  and  have  also 
brought  together  and  exemplified  all  the  maxims  and 
rules  that  I  consider  valuable.  In  commencing  the  first 
part  (Style  in  general)  with  the  Figures  of  Speech,  I  am 
guided  by  the  universal  recognition  of  certain  leading 
designations,  under  which  many  of  the  Rhetorical  prin- 


CHOICE  OF   EXERCISES.  351 

ciples  are  brought  forward  in  advance.  In  point  of  fact, 
the  Figures,  well  explained,  are  of  themselves  a  short 
course  of  Rhetoric.  The  other  matters  required  in  a 
complete  view  of  the  Laws  of  Composition  in  general, 
are — the  Qualities  of  Style,  and  the  laws  of  the  Sentence 
and  the  Paragraph. 

The  explanation  and  exemplification  of  the  various 
terms  employed,  and  of  the  rules  and  principles  of  com- 
position, would  seem  to  indicate  with  sufficient  clearness 
the  course  to  be  pursued  in  the  higher  department  of 
composition.  Still,  there  is  a  certain  latitude  in  th2 
choosing  of  exercises,  and  the  practice  of  teachers  is 
very  various  in  that  respect.  We  may,  therefore,  offer 
a  few  words  on  the  point. 

In  the  case  of  young  pupils,  there  are  very  strong 
objections  to  Essay  or  Theme  writing  It  is  a  contraven- 
tion of  the  all-pervading  principle  of  teaching — to  do  one 
thing  at  a  time.  The  finding  of  the  matter  absorbs  half 
or  more  than  half  the  attention  of  the  learner,  and  leaves 
little  room  for  the  study  of  the  style.  Besides  which, 
the  writer  necessarily  travels  over  a  wide  compass  of 
expression,  and  it  is  impossible  for  the  master  to  take 
notice  of  all  the  faults  and  inadvertences  ;  while  it  is 
scarcely  practicable  to  conduct  a  class,  or  impart  simul- 
taneous criticism,  by  means  of  essays. 

In  a  composition  exercise,  the  matter  should  be  pro- 
vided, and  the  pupils  required  to  find  a  suitable  expres- 
sion. Something  might  be  given  in  outline,  which  they 
are  to  expand  ;  but  even  this  is  too  much  of  a  subject 
lesson  at  the  early  stages.  The  conversion  of  poetry 
into  piose  is  a  very  convenient  exercise  ;  the  danger  is 
that,  in  stripping  off  the  poetical  form,  the  pupil  does 


352  THE   HIGHER   COMPOSITION. 

not  leave  enough  of  energy  and  elegance  to  make  good 
prose.  A  still  better  exercise,  although  less  ready  to 
hand,  is  to  change  the  form  of  a  given  prose  passage  on 
some  definite  plan,  arising  out  of  the  rhetorical  lessons 
going  on  at  the  time : — to  remove  or  insert  figurative 
terms  of  expression  ;  to  pare  down  redundancies,  or  to 
supply  in  a  too  curt  passage  some  needful  expansion  ; 
to  re-arrange  sentences,  upon  definite  principles ;  to 
alter  the  proportions  of  the  Classical  and  the  Saxon 
words ;  to  vary,  in  all  the  best  ways,  the  modes  of  ex- 
pressing the  same  thing. 

The  standing  devices  connected  with  Agreement  and 
Contrast  should  be  well  iterated.  Under  Agreement, 
come  Example  and  Similitude  ;  Contrast  is  the  universal 
remedy  of  vagueness,  and  one  of  the  chief  arts  of  giving 
point  to  language. 

How  to  order  sentences  in  a  paragraph  is  a  high  and 
arduous  undertaking.  It  is  best  studied  upon  the  pas- 
sages that  occur  in  reading  ;  which  passages  may  be 
prescribed  for  rearrangement,  according  to  principles 
laid  down.  The  making  of  a  good  paragraph  is  nearly 
the  highest  feat  of  orderly  expression  as  such.  The 
arrangement  of  a  discourse  contains  scarcely  any  new 
difficulties  of  mere  composition. 

The  exercise  that  seems  to  me  to  comply  best  with 
the  requirements  of  the  composition  lesson,  is  the  critical 
exegesis  of  good  prose  and  poetry  passages,  conducted 
along  with  a  course  of  rhetorical  instruction.  I  have 
given  abundant  examples  of  this  in  another  place  ('  Eng- 
lish Composition  and  Rhetoric').  The  pupil's  mind,  in 
tliese  lessons,  is  wholly  bent  upon  the  ways  and  means 
of  expression  ;  and  I  scarcely  know  any  other  exercise 


GOOD   AND   BAD   IN    STYLE.  353 

that  is  equally  recommendable  on  the  same  vital  circum- 
stance. 

The  whole  gist  of  rhetorical  teaching,  as  thus  viewed, 
is  to  awaken  the  minds  of  the  pupils  to  the  sense  of 
good  and  evil  in  composition.  This  I  take  to  be  the 
prime  requisite.  For,  although  in  order  to  write  well,  a 
command  of  expression  is  even  more  necessary  than  the 
power  to  judge  of  good  writing  ;  yet,  the  teacher  can  do 
but  little  for  the  one,  and  can  do  a  great  deal  for  the 
other.  Affluence  of  language  is  the  fruit  of  years  ;  very 
many  of  the  niceties  and  delicacies  of  composition  may 
be  made  apparent  in  a  six  months'  course.  On  the  sup- 
position, however,  that  a  portion  of  time  is  continuously 
devoted  to  the  English  Language  for  a  series  of  years,  a 
vast  deal  may  be  done  to  impart  both  abundance  of 
phraseology  and  the  effective  employment  of  it. 

There  is  a  preparation  for  the  formal  and  methodical 
teaching  of  Rhetoric  and  Style,  analogous  to  the  pre- 
paration for  grammar ;  namely,  to  vary  rhetorically  the 
occurring  modes  of  expression,  and  to  indicate  the  better 
and  the  worse,  without  reasons.  In  some  points,  the 
pupils'  own  feeling  of  the  superiority  of  one  form  as 
compared  with  another,  would  come  into  play,  and 
might  receive  direction  from  the  master.  The  variations 
caused  by  the  presence  and  the  absence  of  Figure,  the 
changes  in  the  arrangement  of  Sentences,  would  be  felt 
before  the  age  of  rhetorical  system. 

In  the  course  of  promiscuous  reading,  the  pupils 
might  be  gradually  awakened  to  such  leading  Qualities 
of  Style  as  Clearness,  Strength,  Pathos.  By  well- 
selected  instances,  they  might  be  made  to  discern  the 
difference  between  Simplicity  and  its  opposite,  also  be- 


354  ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 

tween  Strength  and  Feeling  or  Pathos.  A  farther  step 
would  consist  in  calling  attention  to  the  methods  and 
arts  of  attaining  those  effects  ;  although,  apart  from 
regular  rhetorical  instruction,  this  could  not  be  carried 
out  with  advantage. 

ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 

The  teaching  of  English  Literature  is  liable  to  all 
the  perplexities  attendant  on  the  framing  of  a  course  of 
History.  It  is  a  mixture  of  what  is  easy,  intelligible, 
and  interesting  to  the  youngest,  with  what  is  technical 
and  abstruse,  and  accessible  only  to  the  mature  mind. 
Just  as  in  General  History,  there  is  no  possibility  of 
contriving  a  course  that  shall  in  every  point  keep  the 
steady  level  of  the  juvenile  capacity. 

Our  great  authors  can  be  arranged  in  an  interesting 
Chronology,  and  this  might  be  fixed  in  the  memory, 
long  before  the  characteristics  of  each  could  be  under- 
stood. Their  lives  also  could  be  read,  as  narrative 
interest ;  including  also  the  mention  of  their  works,  the 
dates  and  subjects  of  these,  with  a  few  necessarily  vague 
expressions  respecting  their  merits.  This  is  scarcely 
lesson  work ;  it  is  rather  the  amusement  of  growing 
minds. 

The  History  of  Literature,  narrowed  to  its  strict 
domain,  is  the  criticism  of  literary  works  in  all  that  re- 
lates to  style  or  composition.  What  makes  the  History 
is  the  regarding  of  our  English  authors  in  a  connected 
series,  each  having  more  or  less  relation  to  the  preced- 
ing, This  historical  treatment  of  Literature  is  itself  a 
branch  of  the  Belles  Lettres,  being  always  conducted 
with  studious  regard  to  the  graces  of  composition. 


SELECTION   OF  AUTHORS.  355 

The  basis  of  literary  criticism,  whether  of  detached 
authors,  or  of  the  Hterary  succession,  is  rhetorical  know- 
ledge, or  an  exact  acquaintance  with  the  qualities  and 
the  laws  of  style,  gained  in  the  manner  that  we  have 
above  sketched.  The  great  fault  in  the  early  teaching 
of  English  Literature,  is  to  address  it  to  minds  so  little 
acquainted  with  literary  qualities  as  not  to  comprehend 
the  meaning  of  the  terms  employed.  After  the  rheto- 
rical nomenclature  is  properly  unfolded,  criticism  and 
history  are  self-explaining. 

At  the  present  time,  the  teaching  of  Literature  in 
schools  has  taken  the  form  of  the  study  of  selected  works 
of  the  greatest  English  authors,  from  Chaucer  down- 
wards. There  is  now  provided  an  ample  series  of  such 
works,  with  every  needful  aid  in  the  way  of  commentary 
or  annotation.  Two  points  have  to  be  considered  in 
connection  with  the  working  of  this  method :  the  first 
as  to  the  selection  of  authors,  the  second  as  to  the  way 
of  handling  them. 

L  In  the  selection,  the  later  authors  are  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  the  earlier,  and  the  prose  authors  to  the  poets. 
The  first  of  these  two  maxims  proceeds  on  the  fact  that 
English  prose  style  has  improved,  and  is  improving  ; 
while  the  thoughts  and  the  general  interest  are  still  more 
in  favour  of  the  moderns.  Hooker  and  Bacon  and 
Temple,  were  in  their  day  great  writers  of  prose ;  but, 
for  our  purpose,  they  are  surpassed  by  Burke  and  Hall 
and  Macaulay.  The  pupil,  at  the  outset,  should  see 
prose  at  its  very  best ;  and  should  be  led  backwards  to 
the  less  perfect  examples.  The  interest  of  many  of  the 
older   prose  writers,  although    not   entirely  exhausted, 


356  ENGLISH   LITERATURE. 

undergoes  an  almost  steady  decrease  with  the  lapse  of 
time  ;  and  only  in  sample  are  they  fit  to  occupy  the 
hours  of  an  English  class.  It  is  in  setting  forth  the 
History  of  Literature,  considered  as  the  development 
of  the  literary  form,  that  they  have  their  most  suitable 
place. 

The  value  of  style  does  not  depend  on  the  matter 
conveyed,  but  the  interest  of  the  subject  has  much  to 
do  with  the  impression  made  by  the  language.  If  the 
thoughts  have  become  effete,  if  the  subject,  whatever 
it  is,  has  been  much  better  handled  by  later  authors, 
our  attention  flags,  and  none  but  extraordinary  merits 
of  style  can  detain  us.  Moreover,  style  comes  home  to 
us  with  most  effect,  when  it  is  accompanied  by  matter 
that  we  are  ready  to  cling  to  for  its  own  sake. 

The  second  maxim — to  give  the  preference  to  prose 
authors,  in  early  teaching — proceeds  on  the  practical 
consideration  that  prose  is  what  we  habitually  employ ; 
while  poetry  is  for  our  enjoyment,  like  music  and  paint- 
ing. If  it  is  not  waste  of  time,  it  is  at  least  great  dis- 
proportion, to  keep  a  class  occupied  for  months  on  a 
play  of  Shakespeare,  or  on  three  Books  of 'Paradise  Lost' 
No  doubt  many  of  the  exercises  performed  on  a  prose 
lesson  can  be  performed  on  poetry;  and  moreover,  the 
greatest  efforts  of  style  as  such  are  put  forth  by  the 
poets.  Yet  the  argument  is  unanswerable,  that  if  these 
exercises  are  to  improve  our  own  composition,  it  is  as 
prose  composers ;  and  for  a  good  model  of  prose  we 
must  refer,  not  to  a  poet,  but  to  a  writer  of  prose. 

Unless  the  space  allowed  for  English  is  very  con- 
siderable, as  it  might  be  if  Classics  were  displaced  from 
llie  higher  education^  poetry  can  come  in  only  by  selected 


SEPARATING  LANGUAGE  AND  MATTER.  357 

passages.  It  must  be  referred  to  in  Rhetorical  teaching, 
as  exemplifying  the  Qualities  and  the  Arts  of  Style; 
and  that  is  as  much  as,  in  my  judgment,  should  be 
attempted.  We  may  admire  Chaucer,  Shakespeare, 
Milton,  and  Pope,  but  they  are  not  the  one  thing  needful 
in  an  English  class.  The  best  English  teaching  would 
say  little  about  them  at  the  time,  but  would,  nevertheless, 
give  the  pupils  the  aptitude  and  the  zest  for  reading 
them  when  they  have  left  school.  Not  one  of  these 
writers  is  child's  play.  None  of  them  can  be  read  with 
any  tolerable  appreciation  before  eighteen  or  twenty ; 
aud  the  full  enjoyment  of  them  is  much  later. 

II.  As  regards  the  best  mode  of  using  the  selected 
works  of  our  great  authors,  I  have  to  fall  back  once 
more  upon  the  great  principle  of  Division  of  Labour — 
the  separation  of  the  language  from  the  matter.  A 
portion  of  Bacon,  of  Addison,  of  Burke,  of  Macaulay, 
— may  be  a  knowledge  lesson,  or  it  may  be  a  language 
lesson.  In  present  practice,  it  is  apt  to  be  both.  But, 
as  I  have  said,  the  English  teacher  should  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  matter,  except  in  relation  to  the  manner. 
He  may  read  with  his  pupils  Burke  on  the  French  Re- 
volution, but  he  should  not  trouble  them  with  the 
political  thoughts,  but  only  with  the  conduct  and  me- 
thod of  the  exposition — with  the  sentences,  the  para- 
graphs, the  illustrations,  the  figures,  the  qualities,  the 
diction.  He  does  not  need  to  make  them  con  the  en- 
tire treatise,  with  its  interminable  repetitions.  It  is  his 
business  to  indicate  important  peculiarities  in  the  ex- 
pression and  in  the  handling—  what  to  imitate  and  what 
to  avoid  in  the  one  or  in  the  other.  When  he  has  got 
out  everything  of  this  kind  that  the  work  can  yield,  he 


358  ENGLISH   LITERATURE, 

has  done  enough.  It  is  not  his  business  to  teach  poh'« 
tical  philosophy;  and  if  it  were,  a  much  better  handbook 
could  be  found  for  beginners  in  that  subject. 

The  teacher  of  advanced  classes  in  English  does 
not  even  undertake  to  explain  difficulties  or  obscurities 
of  meaning,  except  to  point  a  language  lesson.  It  is 
doubtful  how  far  he  should  take  upon  himself  to  explain 
figurative  allusions ;  he  certainly  should  not  charge  him- 
self with  interpreting  the  far-fetched  comparisons  of 
florid  writers  and  poets,  nor  make  these  the  occasion  for 
giving  desultory  information  in  history,  mythology,  geo- 
graphy, natural  history,  manners  and  customs.  Such 
explanations  are  suitable  in  those  early  reading  lessons 
wherein  meaning  and  language  are  not  yet  differentiated. 
But  in  the  later  stages  of  instruction  in  style,  such  things 
are  to  be  forborne.  General  information  is  now  given 
in  most  subjects  by  systematic  teaching  ;  and  the  mis- 
cellaneous contributions  from  the  allusions  of  poets  are 
superseded  by  a  more  excellent  way.  Pupils  need  not 
follow  out  the  references  to  the  similes  of  Milton  farther 
than  to  feel  their  force ;  and  such  as  need  much  explain- 
ing may  be  passed  over.  The  pressing  matter  is,  to  be 
led  to  discriminate  the  effects  of  the  composition,  and 
to  see  what  are  the  arts  that  bring  about  these  effects. 

The  same  rigid  principle  of  division  of  labour  would 
exclude  from  English  teaching  whatever  relates  to  the 
history,  manners  and  customs  of  the  country,  and  all 
occasions  for  calling  forth  patriotic  and  moral  sentiment. 
Such  matters  obviously  belong  to  historical  and  other 
teaching,  and  should  not  be  encroached  upon  by  the 
English  master  any  more  than  by  the  Drawing  master. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    VALUE    OF    THE   CLASSICS. 

The  chapter  on  Education  Values  was  purposely  left 
incomplete;  the  vexed  question  of  the  study  of  the 
Classics  demanding  a  separate  and  full  discussion.  As 
respects  the  Higher  Education  this  is  the  most  important 
of  all  the  questions  that  can  be  raised  at  the  present 
time.  The  thorough-going  advocates  of  Classics  hold 
Latin  and  Greek  to  be  indispensable  to  a  liberal  educa- 
tion. They  do  not  allow  of  an  alternative  road  to  our 
University  Degrees.  They  will  not  admit  that  the  lapse 
of  three  centuries,  with  their  numerous  revolutions,  and 
their  vast  developments  of  new  knowledge,  make  any 
difference  whatever  to  the  education  value  of  a  know- 
ledge of  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics.  They  get  over 
the  undeniable  fact,  that  we  no  longer  employ  these 
languages,  as  languages,  by  bringing  forward  a  number 
of  uses  that  never  occurred  to  Erasmus,  Casaubon  or 
Milton. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  use  of  Latin  was  universal. 
After  the  taking  of  Constantinople,  Greek  literature 
burst  upon  Western  Europe,  and  so  entranced  the  choicer 
spirits  as  to  bring  about  a  temporary  revival  of  Paganism. 
To  the  Christian  scholarly  enquirer,  Greek  was  welcomed 
as  laying  open  the  original  of  the  New  Testament,  to* 
25 


360  VALUE  OF  THE  CLASSICS. 

gether  with  the  Eastern  Fathers  of  the  Church.  The 
zeal  thus  springing  up  rendered  possible  the  imposition 
of  a  new  language  upon  educated  youth,  which  might 
have  well  seemed  too  much  for  human  indolence.  Our 
Universities  accepted  the  addition ;  and  the  teachers  and 
pupils  had  to  speak  Latin,  and  read  Greek. ^ 

The  men  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  had 
their  own  follies,  errors,  and  superstitions ;  but  their 
mode  of  estimating  the  worth  of  the  classical  tongues 
was  plain  common  sense.  Says  Hegius,  the  Dutch 
scholar  (master  of  Erasmus,  head  of  the  College  of 
Deventer,  1438-1468)-:  'If  anyone  wishes  to  under- 
stand grammar,  rhetoric,  mathematics,  history,  or  Holy 
Scripture,  let  him  read  Greek.  We  owe  everything  to 
the  Greeks.*  Luther  advocated  the  new  learning,  in  his 
own  vehement  way :  '  True  though  it  be  that  the  Gos- 
pel came  and  comes  alone  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  yet  it 
came  by  means  of  the  tongues,  and  thereby  grew,  and 
thereby  must  be  preserved.'  Melancthon  regarded  the 
languages  solely  as  means  to  ends,  and  his  scheme  of 
education  embraced  all  the  departments  of  knowledge 
on  their  own  account.  Hieronymus  Wolf,  of  Augs- 
burg, was  emphatic  on  the  same  point :  *  Happy  were 
the  Latins,'  he  says,  '  who  needed  only  to  learn  Greek, 
and  that  not  by  school-teaching,  but  by  intercourse  with 

'  *  Thus  in  the  Middle  Ages  Latin  was  made  the  groundwork  of  educa- 
tion ;  not  for  the  beauty  of  its  classical  literature,  nor  because  the  study  of 
a  dead  language  was  the  best  mental  gymnastic,  or  the  only  means  of 
acquiring  a  masterly  freedom  in  the  use  of  living  tongues,  but  because  it 
was  the  language  of  educated  men  throughout  Western  Europe,  employed 
for  irublic  business,  literature,  philosophy,  and  science,  above  all,  in  God's 
providence,  essential  to  the  unity,  and  therefore  enforced  by  the  authority, 
of  the  Western  Church.' — (Mr.  C.  S.  Parker,  in  Farrar's  Essays  on  a 
Liberal  Education,  p.  7>) 


WORTH   DECREASING.  36 1 

living  Greeks.  Happier  still  were  the  Greeks,  who,  so 
soon  as  they  could  read  and  write  their  mother  tongue, 
might  pass  at  once  to  the  liberal  arts  and  the  pursuit  of 
wisdom.  For  us,  who  must  spend  many  years  in  learn- 
ing foreign  languages,  the  entrance  into  the  gates  of 
Philosophy  is  much  more  difficult.  For,  to  understand 
Latin  and  Greek  is  not  learning  itself,  but  the  entrance- 
hall  and  antechamber  of  learning.'     (Parker.) 

That  the  value  of  a  knowledge  of  the  classics,  on 
the  ground  of  the  information  exclusively  contained  in 
Greek  and  Latin  authors,  should  decrease  steadily,  was 
a  necessary  result  of  the  independent  research  of  the 
last  three  hundred  years.  The  rate  of  decrease  has 
been  accelerated  during  the  last  century  by  the  abun- 
dance of  good  translations  from  the  classics.  In  this 
progressive  decrease  a  point  must  be  reached  when  the 
cost  of  acquiring  the  languages  would  be  set  against 
the  residuum  of  valuable  information  still  locked  up  in 
them,  and  when  the  balance  would  turn  against  their 
acquisition.  In  the  meantime,  however,  other  advan- 
tages have  been  put  forward  that  are  considered  suffi- 
cient to  make  up  for  the  loss  of  value  brought  about  by 
the  causes  now  mentioned. 


I.  The  Information  still  locked  up  in  Greek  and 
Latin  Authors. 

This  is  the  professional  argument,  but  the  case  re- 
specting it  is  so  very  obvious  that  we  can  hardly  be  too 
brief  in  presenting  the  matter. 

That  there  is  not  a  fact  or  principle  in  the  whole 
compass  of  physical  science,  or  in  the  arts  and  practice 


362  VALUE   OF   THE  CLASSICS. 

of  life,  that  is  not  fully  expressed  in  every  civilized  mo- 
dern language,  will  be  universally  allowed.  There  will 
not  be  quite  the  same  consent  as  regards  moral  and 
metaphysical  science ;  it  being  contended  that  in  Plato 
and  in  Aristotle,  for  example,  there  are  treasures  of 
thought  that  never  can  be  separated  from  their  original 
setting  in  the  Greek  language.  Again,  the  ancient 
literatures  are  the  exclusive  depositories  of  the  histo- 
rical and  social  facts  of  the  ancient  world  ;  but  all  this 
is  eminently  translatable,  and  has  been  abundantly  re- 
produced in  the  modern  tongues.  A  certain  exception, 
however,  is  made  here  also,  namely,  that  for  the  inner 
or  subjective  life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  best 
translations  must  still  be  at  fault. 

As  regards  Greek  philosophy,  it  may  be  safely  said 
that  its  doctrinal  positions  and  subtle  distinctions  are  at 
this  moment  better  understood  through  translators  and 
commentators,  writing  in  English,  French,  and  German, 
than  they  could  have  been  to  Bentley,  Porson,  or  Parr. 
The  truth  is  that,  in  translating,  a  knowledge  of  the 
subject  is  at  least  co-essential  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
language.  When  the  Professor  of  Greek  Literature,  in 
Cosmo's  Platonic  Academy  at  Florence,  lectured  on 
Plato,  the  Latin  Aristotelians  asked  with  indignation 
how  a  philosopher  could  be  expounded  by  one  who  was 
none  himself 

That  the  inner  life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  can- 
not be  fully  comprehended  unless  we  know  their  own 
language,  is  a  position  that  gives  way  under  a  close 
assault.  The  inner  life  must  be  understood  from  the 
outer  life,  and  that  can  be  represented  in  any  language. 
Whatever  sets  well  before  us  the  usages,  the  modes  of 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE   PROFESSIONS.  3^3 

acting  and  thinking,  the  institutions,  and  the  historical 
incidents  of  any  people,  will  enable  us  to  comprehend 
their  inner  life,  as  well  as  can  be  done  in  surveying  them 
at  a  distance ;  and  all  this  is  quite  possible  through  the 
medium  of  translators  and  commentators. 

This  seems  enough  as  far  as  concerns  the  professions. 
In  medicine,  for  example,  it  will  not  be  contended  that 
there  is  anything  to  be  gained  by  classical  scholarship. 
Hippocrates  has  been  translated.  Whatever  Galen  knew 
is  known  independently  of  his  pages.  But  indeed,  only 
a  purely  historical  value  can  attach  to  any  medical  work 
of  the  ancient  world. 

Again,  the  lawyer  can  obviously  dispense  with  Greek. 
There  may  be  a  certain  claim  made  for  Latin  in  his  case, 
in  consequence  of  our  position  with  reference  to  Roman 
Jurisprudence.  But  this  too  has  been  sufficiently  repre- 
sented in  English  works  to  make  the  whole  subject 
accessible  to  an  English  reader.  The  Latin  terms  that 
have  to  be  retained  as  untranslatable  by  single  words 
In  English  can  be  explained  as  they  occur,  without  any- 
one requiring  to  master  the  entire  Latin  language.  As 
to  the  power  of  reading  Latin  title-deeds,  if  one  man 
in  a  business  establishment  possesses  it,  that  is  enough.* 

The  plea  for  classics  to  the  clergy  has  always  been 
accounted  self-evident  and  irresistible.  Even  here,  how- 
ever, there  are  qualifying  circumstances.  It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  a  clergyman  to  understand  the  Bible,  which 
involves  Hebrew  and  Hellenistic  Greek.  Classical 
Greek  and  classical  Greek  authors  are  not  necessary  ; 

'  Mr.  Sidgwick  says  a  lawyer  'ought  to  be  acquainted  with  Latin 
grammar,  and  a  certain  portion  of  the  Latin  vocabulary.'  The  necessity 
for  the  grammar  is  not  self-evident. 


3^4  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

while  the  utility  of  Latin  extends  only  to  the  Latin 
Fathers,  the  scholastic  theology,  and  the  learned  theo- 
logians of  the  Reformation,  including  Luther,  Melanc- 
thon,  Calvin,  and  Turretin. 

Now  there  is  no  book  that  has  been  so  abundantly 
commented  on  as  the  Bible.  Every  light  that  scholar- 
ship can  strike  out  has  been  made  to  shine  through  the 
vernacular  tongues ;  there  is  scarcely  a  text  but  can  be 
imderstood  by  an  English  reader  as  the  ablest  scholars 
understand  it ;  and  the  study  of  the  original  languages 
must  be  prosecuted  to  a  pitch  of  first-rate  scholarship 
before  anything  can  be  gained  in  addition  to  what  every- 
one may  know  without  scholarship. 

Among  the  caprices  of  opinion  on  the  present  ques- 
tion may  be  ranked  the  very  slight  stress  that  is  put 
upon  the  Hebrew  language  in  the  education  of  the 
clergy.  The  most  exacting  churches  receive  a  candi- 
date for  orders  on  a  very  easy  Hebrew  pass ;  and  it  is 
never  supposed  that  more  than  a  small  number  of 
preachers  in  any  church  habitually  consult  the  Hebrew 
Bible.  Yet  the  Old  Testament,  containing  as  it  does  a 
large  mass  of  sentiment  and  poetry,  and  referring  to  a 
state  of  society  far  removed  from  our  own,  is  one  of 
the  books  most  difficult  to  exhibit  in  translation.  Granted 
that,  as  respects  the  Old  Testament,  there  may  be  an 
unexhausted,  possibly  an  inexhaustible,  suggestiveness 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  original  tongue,  the  fact  remains 
that  inattention  to  Hebrew  is  all  but  universal ;  while,  as 
respects  the  New  Testament,  a  knowledge  of  the  ori- 
ginal can  scarcely  add  anything  to  the  ample  exegesis 
provided  by  theological  scholars.  Whitfield  knew  no 
Hebrew  and  little  Greek. 


UNTRANSLATABLE  EFFECTS.  3^5 

The  Hellenistic  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  does 
not  involve  classical  Greek  authors.  It  might  be  taught 
like  Hebrew  in  the  Divinity  schools,  and  entirely  dis- 
connected from  the  literature  of  Pagan  Greece.  That 
these  Pagan  authors  should  be  nursing  fathers  and 
nursing  mothers  to  the  Christian  Church,  is  a  standing 
wonder.  That  Christian  youth,  so  carefully  withheld  from 
the  language  of  sexual  impurity,  should  be  allowed  such 
a  liberal  crop  of  wild  oats  as  a  course  of  classical  read- 
ing supplies,  is  not  less  wonderful. 

The  natural  course  as  regards  the  clergy  would  be  to 
encourage  a  small  number  of  scholars  to  prosecute  the 
study  of  the  original  languages  of  the  Bible  and  all  the 
allied  learning,  and  to  dispense  with  these  languages  as 
regards  the  mass  of  working  clergy,  who  may  turn  their 
time  to  more  profitable  account. 

II.  The  Art  Treasures  of  Greek  and  Roman  Literature 
are  inaccessible  except  through  the  languages. 

It  must  ever  remain  true  that  certain  artistic  effects 
of  literary  composition,  and  more  especially  poetry,  are 
bound  up  with  the  language  of  the  writer,  and  cannot  be 
imparted  through  another  language.  These  very  pecu- 
liar effects,  however,  are  not  the  greatest  in  themselves, 
nor  the  most  valuable  for  literary  culture.  The  trans- 
latable peculiarities  far  transcend  in  value  the  untrans- 
latable ;  if  it  were  not  so,  where  should  we  be  with  our 
Bible?  Melody  is  the  most  intractable  quality;  of 
this  alone  can  little  or  no  idea  be  imparted  by  transla- 
tions. Even  the  delicate  associations  with  words  can 
be  expounded  through  our  own  language ;  just  as  they 


3^6  VALUE  or  THE  CLASSICS. 

must  be  to  the  pupil  who  is  studying  the  original.  As 
regards  all  dead  languages,  much  of  this  subtle  essence 
must  have  vanished  beyond  recovery.  Learning  Greek 
does  not  put  one  in  the  same  position  to  Homer  and 
Sophocles,  that  learning  German  does  to  Goethe.  All 
that  a  scholar  can  know  he  may  find  means  of  imparting 
to  one  that  is  not  a  scholar. 

The  subtle  incommunicable  aroma  of  classical  poetry 
is  one  of  the  luxuries  of  scholarship.  The  mass  of  stu- 
dents cannot  reach  it ;  and  it  may  be  bought  too  dear. 
Moreover,  the  translatable  virtue  of  the  great  poets 
is  so  great,  that  we  may  have  many  a  rich  feast,  through 
translations  alone:  witness  the  enthusiasm  for  Pope's 
'  Homer.'  Horace  is  perhaps  the  most  untranslatable 
poet  of  antiquity ;  but  the  difficulty  has  been  a  stimulus 
to  marvels  of  verbal  dexterity  in  approaching  the  origi- 
nal; and  he  that  is  conversant  with  the  translations  now 
accessible  to  the  English  reader,  cannot  be  far  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

III.  The  Classical  Languages  train  the  mind  as 
nothing  else  does. 

This  argument  was  not  advanced  in  the  days  when 
the  dead  languages  were  useful  in  their  character  as 
languages ;  either  it  was  not  felt  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  or  it  was  unnecessary.  That  it  is 
•so  much  relied  upon  now,  is  tantamount  to  a  surrender 
of  the  previous  arguments,  or  at  least  suggests  doubts  as 
to  their  sufficiency.  It  has  that  amount  of  vagueness  about 
it  that  would  make  a  convenient  shelter  to  a  bad  case 
We  must  ask  specifically  what  the  training  consists  in. 


TRAINING  OF  GRAMMAR.  367 

For  one  thing,  there  is  abundant  employment  given 
to  the  memory ;  but  the  proper  word  for  this  is  not 
'trained'  but  'expended.'  A  certain  amount  of  the 
plastic  force  of  the  system  is  used  up,  and  is  therefore 
not  available  for  other  purposes.  This  is  the  cost  of  the 
operation,  for  which  we  have  to  show  an  equivalent  in 
solid  advantages. 

The  faculties  supposed  to  be  trained  are  the  higher 
faculties  named  Reason,  Judgment,  and  Constructive  or 
Inventive  Power;  and  the  exercises  reckoned  upon  to 
give  the  training  are  conning  grammar,  and  translating. 

The  influence  of  Grammar  can  soon  be  told.  To 
learn  Grammar  is,  besides  employing  memory,  to  under- 
stand certain  rules  and  to  apply  them  as  the  cases  arise, 
bearing  in  mind  the  exceptions  when  there  are  any.  In- 
flexion is  the  easiest  part.  Latin  nouns  in  a  of  the  first 
declension  are  declined  according  to  a  type;  one  ex- 
ample is  given,  as  penna,  and  the  pupil  has  to  adhere  to 
the  type  with  femina  and  the  rest.  This  represents  the 
operation  that  is  requisite  whenever  we  can  rise  from 
particulars  to  general  knowledge.  'A  fine  day,'  'a  good 
road/  *  a  boiling  kettle,'  '  a  loaf  of  bread,'  are  general 
ideas  that  are  connected  with  practical  injunctions,  and 
whoever  has  to  comply  with  these  injuctions  must  under- 
stand the  ideas  and  apply  them  as  the  occasion  serves. 
Sometimes  the  notion  is  accessible  to  the  weakest  ca- 
pacity, sometimes  it  is  the  reverse ;  there  are  all  degrees 
of  difficulty  up  to  the  subtleties  of  professional  lore, 
and  the  abstruseness  of  science  or  philosophy.  The  chief 
point  is,  that  no  branch  can  have  a  monopoly  of  the 
exercise  of  seeing  the  general  in  the  particular;  we  can- 
not evade  the  necessity  of  the  task.     Whether  one  sub- 


368  VALUE   OF   THE  CLASSICS. 

ject  is  better  than  another  for  our  education  in  the  matter 
depends  upon  whether  it  is  possible  to  ease  the  labour 
of  conceiving  the  more  difficult  abstractions  by  some- 
thing foreign  to  them;  whether  mathematics  or  meta- 
physics can  be  made  easier  by  toiling  in  some  foreign 
lines  of  thought,  as  Latin  Grammar,  English  Grammar, 
or  Botany.  It  remains  for  anyone  to  show  that  such  an 
influence  exists;  the  arguments  for  the  efficacy  of  gram- 
matical discipline  do  not  reach  the  point;  they  assume 
that  grammar  has  a  monopoly  of  exercising  the  mind 
upon  generalities,  a  point  that  has  yet  to  be  proved. 

Grammar  as  exemplified  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages  is  particularly  devoid  of  subtlety,  until  we 
come  to  certain  delicacies  of  syntax,  as  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  tenses  and  moods  of  the  Verb.  The  Parts 
of  Speech  are  assumed  without  any  definition  ;  they  are 
recognized  by  the  Inflexion  test,  and  not  by  their  func- 
tion in  the  sentence  ;  being  in  that  respect  very  different 
from  what  is  found  in  English  Grammar.  This  has  been 
made  an  argument  for  taking  Latin  before  English — the 
easy  grammar  before  the  abstruse  one.  But  the  greater 
should  imply  the  less.  If,  at  the  proper  age,  a  pupil  has 
mastered  English  Grammar,  he  has,  in  point  of  reasoning 
power,  gone  a  step  beyond  Latin  or  Greek  grammar,  and 
should  therefore  be  relieved  from  further  labour  for  per- 
fecting his  reasoning  faculties  in  the  grammatical  field. 

It  is  in  the  exercise  of  translating  from  Latin  or 
Greek  into  English,  and  vice  versd,  that  the  highest 
mental  efforts  are  made,  and  the  greatest  strain  put 
upon  the  faculties.  Accordingly,  it  is  to  this  exercise 
that  the  supposed  training  more  especially  applies.  Now 
the  mere  conquering  of  difficulty  is  not  special  to  any 


EXERCISE  OF  TRANSLATING.  369 

line  of  study;  we  must  further  enquire  what  are  the 
special  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  The  exercise  of 
translating  is  a  constnictive  effort :  given  a  passage,  a 
certain  amount  of  grammatical  and  verbal  knowledge, 
and  the  use  of  a  dictionary,  the  pupil  has  to  divine  the 
meaning.  There  are  three  stages  in  the  pupil's  progress. 
In  the  first,  his  information  and  resources  are  unequal  to 
the  task,  in  which  case  the  labour  can  do  him  very  little 
good;  we  are  not  the  better  for  working  at  a  point 
where  we  cannot  make  any  progress.  The  second  stage  is 
where,  by  a  certain  measure  of  application,  the  pupil  can 
succeed ;  in  which  case,  the  operation  is  exhilarating  and 
rewarding,  and  will  be  achieved.  The  highest  stage 
is  when  the  work  can  be  performed  with  ease,  and  with- 
out any  effort  at  all ;  in  which  stage  there  is  no  difficulty 
to  be  overcome,  and,  therefore,  very  little  effect  accruing 
from  the  exercise.  We  are  to  assume,  what  is  not  always 
the  case,  that  the  student  can  be  uniformly  placed  in  the 
second  situation,  and  are  to  enquire  what  there  is  in  the 
particular  work  to  train,  discipline,  or  strengthen  any  of 
the  higher  faculties. 

The  translation  exercise  is  a  tentative  process;  the 
meanings  of  the  separate  words  have  to  be  ascertained  ; 
and  out  of  several  meanings  of  any  one  word,  a  selection 
has  to  be  made  such  as  to  give  sense  along  with  the 
selected  meanings  of  the  others.  Various  combinations 
have  to  be  tried;  baffled  at  one  attempt,  the  student 
must  make  a  second  and  a  third,  until  at  last  he  alights 
upon  something  that  pays  a  due  regard  to  every  word 
and  every  peculiarity  of  grammar.  A  considerable 
amount  of  patient  effort  is  demanded,  and  the  long-con- 
tinued exercise  of  patient  effort  must  do  something  to 


3/0  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS 

form  habits  of  application.  There  is  not,  however,  any- 
thing specific,  unique,  or  unparalleled  in  the  operation. 
All  study  whatsoever  needs  a  similar  exercise  of  patient 
application ;  and  many  kinds  of  study  take  precisely  the 
same  form,  namely,  assigning  to  words  alternative  mean- 
ings, until  some  one  meaning  is  hit  upon  that  resolves  a 
difficulty.  It  is  the  application  needed  to  solve  riddles 
and  conundrums.  To  make  out  the  meaning  of  a  scien- 
tific proposition,  to  find  the  rule  that  fits  a  given  case, 
we  must  try  and  try  again ;  we  reject  one  supposition 
after  another  as  not  consistent  with  some  of  the  condi- 
tions of  the  problem,  and  remain  in  patient  thought 
until  others  come  to  mind. 

It  is  in  the  interpretation  of  language  that  most 
difficulty  is  felt  in  keeping  the  pupil  always  in  the  me- 
dium position  above  described ;  giving  him  work  to  do 
that  shall  neither  exceed  his  powers,  nor  be  too  easy  to 
call  them  into  full  exercise.  With  a  passage  that  the 
dictionary  does  not  give  the  means  of  rendering,  the 
chance  is  that  the  attempt  will  not  be  seriously  made,  so 
that  the  mind  is  not  put  on  the  qui  vive  to  drink  in  with 
avidity  the  master's  explanation.  It  is,  moreover,  gene- 
rally admitted  that  the  use  of  *  cribs '  does  away  with 
the  good  of  the  situation,  as  regards  translating  into 
English.  Hence  to  secure  any  discipline  at  all,  the 
operation  of  translating  from  English  into  Latin  and 
Greek  must  be  kept  up,  although  in  itself  the  least 
useful  of  any. 

The  remark  could  not  fail  to  be  made  that  the  opera- 
tion of  translating  is  necessarily  the  same  for  ancient  and 
for  modern  languages ;  and,  therefore,  any  modern  lan- 
o-uage  yields  whatever  discipline  belongs  to  the  situation, 


ADJUSTMENT  OF  EXERCISES.  37 1 

It  cannot  avail  much,  in  reply,  to  advert  to  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Grammars— the  more 
highly  inflexional  character  of  the  languages ;  for  each 
language  has  its  specialities,  and  the  business  of  the 
pupil  simply  is  to  attend  to  them.  Every  language 
must  express  the  same  facts  of  time  and  manner,  and  it 
cannot  be  very  material,  as  far  as  regards  mental  discip- 
line, whether  it  is  by  inflexion  or  by  auxiliaries.  The  fact 
of  inflexion  is  sufl[iciently  experienced  in  any  case  ;  and 
how  far  it  is  carried  is  an  inferior  consideration. 

In  Science,  far  more  than  in  Languages,  is  it  pos- 
sible to  adjust  the  difficulties  at  each  stage  to  the 
strength  of  the  pupils,  although,  undoubtedly,  to  do  this  in 
any  subject  needs  very  good  teaching.  The  Grammar  of 
language  being  most  nearly  allied  to  science,  can  be  best 
graduated  in  this  way ;  while,  in  the  miscellaneous  chances 
of  translation,  difficulties  start  up  without  any  reference 
to  order  or  the  preparation  of  mind  of  the  pupils,  and 
the  thing  cannot  be  otherwise. 

The  argument  from  Training  is  applied  to  certain 
special  points,  some  of  which  will  be  considered  under 
separate  heads :  such  are  the  discipline  in  English  and 
in  Philology  generally.  Much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  re- 
mark that  it  is  necessary  to  know  more  languages  than 
our  own  to  be  delivered  from  certain  snares  of  language ; 
and  the  favourite  example  is  the  ambiguity  of  the  verb 
'  to  be,'  It  so  happens,  however,  that  this  very  ambi- 
guity— predication  and  existence — was  pointed  out  by 
Aristotle  {GroU's  Aristotle,  i.  181).' 

'  In  an  address  to  the  Social  Science  Association  in  1870,  Lord  Neaves 
recommended  the  study  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  French,  as  the  best  means  ol 
cultivating  precision  of  thinking.     Now,  whether  or  not  the  writers  in 


372  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

In  the  interesting  Rectorial  Address  of  Professor 
Helmholtz,  delivered  this  year  to  the  University  of  Ber- 
lin, the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  different  academical 
institutions  of  Europe  are  freely  indicated.  With  refer- 
ence to  the  English  Universities,  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
the  professor  thinks  his  own  countrymen  should  en- 
deavour to  rival  them  in  two  things.  '  In  the  first  place, 
they  develop  in  a  very  high  degree  among  their  students, 
at  the  same  time  a  lively  sense  of  the  beauties  and  the 
youthful  freshness  of  antiquity,  and  a  taste  for  precision 
and  elegance  of  language ;  this  is  seen  in  the  fashion  in 
which  the  students  manage  their  mother  tongue.'  This 
must  refer  to  the  prominence  still  given  to  the  classics  in 
Oxford  and  Cambridge ;  yet,  in  Germany,  the  classics  are 
far  more  studied  than  in  England,  whether  we  consider 
the  universal  compulsion  of  the  Gymnasia,  or  the  special 
devotion  manifested  by  a  select  number  at  the  Univer- 
sities. Whatever  good  mere  classical  study  can  effect 
must  have  reached  its  climax  in  Germany.  As  regards 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  particularly  Oxford,  the 
best  parts  of  the  teaching  seem  to  be  those  that  depart 
most  from  the  classical  teaching,  as,  for  example,  the 
very  great  stress  laid  upon  writing  a  good  English  essay. 
It  is  often  said,  that  even  in  a  professedly  classical 
examination,  a  candidate's  success  is  more  due  to  his 
English  Essay  than  to  his  acquaintance  with  Greek  and 
Roman  authors. 

After  refuting  a  number  of  the  alleged  utilities  of 
classical  learning,  Mr.  Sidgwick  still  reserves  certain  dis- 

those  languages  are  distinguished  above  all  others  for  precision,  it  is  a  sin- 
gular fact,  that  these  are  the  languages  of  the  three  peoples  most  remark- 
ablo  for  confining  their  attention  to  their  own  language. 


MATERIALS  SUPPLIED.  373 

tinct  advantages  as  belonging  to  the  study  of  language. 
'  In  the  first  place,  the  materials  here  supplied  to  the 
student  are  ready  to  hand  in  inexhaustible  abundance 
and  diversity.  Any  page  of  any  ancient  author  forms 
for  the  young  student  a  string  of  problems  sufficiently 
complex  and  diverse  to  exercise  his  memory  and  judg- 
ment in  a  great  variety  of  ways.  Again,  from  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  distractions  of  the  external  senses,  from 
the  simplicity  and  definiteness  of  the  classification  which 
the  student  has  to  apply,  from  the  distinctness  and  ob- 
viousness of  the  points  that  he  is  called  on  to  observe,  it 
seems  probable  that  this  study  calls  forth  (especially  in 
young  boys)  a  more  concentrated  exercise  of  the  faculties 
it  does  develop  than  any  other  could  easily  do.  If  both 
the  classical  languages  were  to  cease  to  be  taught  in 
early  education,  valuable  machinery  would,  I  think,  be 
lost,  for  which  it  would  be  somewhat  difficult  to  provide 
a  perfect  substitute.'    {Essays  on  a  Liberal  Education^ 

p.  1 33-) 

The  materials  here  spoken  of  must  mean  the  subject 
matter  of  the  ancient  authors,  and  not  simply  the  lan- 
guages; this,  however,  does  not  help  the  case,  as  the 
matter  can  be  far  better  given  in  translations.  The 
second  reason — the  exclusion  of  the  senses,  and  the 
simplicity  and  definiteness  of  the  classification  to  be 
applied — must  refer  to  the  language  part;  but  it  con- 
tains nothing  special  to  the  classiral  languages.  More- 
over, as  regards  putting  before  the  mind  of  a  student 
distinct  issues,  and  still  more  in  adapting  these  to  the 
state  of  his  faculties  and  advancement,  the  learning 
of  a  language  seems  to  me  far  inferior  to  most  othei 
exercises. 


374  VALUE  OF  THE  CLASSICS. 


IV.  A  Knowledge  of  the  Classics  is  the  best  preparation 
for  the  Mother  Tongue. 

This  must  have  reference  either  (i)  to  the  Vocables 
of  the  Language,  or  (2)  to  the  Grammar  and  Structure  of 
our  composition. 

(i)  As  regards  the  vocables,  we  have  to  deal  with 
the  presence  of  Latin  and  Greek  words  in  English. 
There  being  several  thousands  of  our  words  obtained 
directly  or  indirectly  from  the  Latin,  it  may  be  supposed 
that  we  should  go  direct  to  the  fountain  head,  and  learn 
the  meanings  in  the  parent  language.  But  why  may  not 
we  learn  them  exactly  as  they  occur  in  the  mother 
tongue  ?  What  economy  is  there  in  learning  them  in 
another  place .-'  The  answer  must  be,  with  a  qualification 
to  be  given  presently,  that  the  economy  is  all  in  favour 
of  the  first  course.  The'  reasons  are  plain.  For  one 
thing,  if  we  learn  the  Latin  words  as  they  occur  in  Eng- 
lish, we  confine  ourselves  to  those  that  have  been  actually 
transferred  to  English ;  whereas  in  learning  Latin  as  a 
whole,  we  learn  a  great  many  words  that  have  never  been 
imported  into  our  own  language.  The  other  reason  is 
probably  still  stronger,  namely,  that  the  meanings  of  a 
great  number  of  the  words  have  greatly  changed  since 
their  introduction  into  English ;  hence,  if  we  go  back  to 
the  sources,  we  have  a  double  task ;  we  first  learn  the 
meaning  in  the  original,  and  next  the  change  of  mean- 
ing that  followed  the  appropriation  of  the  word  by  our- 
selves. The  meaning  of  '  servant '  is  easiest  arrived  at, 
by  observing  the  use  of  the  word  among  ourselves,  and 
by  neglecting  its  Latin  origin ;  if  we  are  to  be  informed 


DERIVED   ENGLISH   VOCABLES.  375 

what  *  servus '  meant  in  Latin,  we  must  learn  further 
that  such  is  not  the  present  meaning;  so  that  the  direct- 
ing of  our  attention  to  the  original,  although  a  legitimate 
and  interesting  effort,  does  not  pertain  to  the  right  use 
of  our  own  language. 

Besides  the  vast  body  of  Latin  words  entering  into 
our  language,  as  a  co-equal  factor  with  the  Teutonic  ele- 
ment, there  is  a  sprinkling  of  special  terms  both  Latin 
and  Greek,  adopted  for  technical  and  scientific  uses. 
The  appropriation  of  many  of  these  is  recent,  and  the 
process  is  still  going  on.  Even  with  these,  however,  it 
is  unsafe  to  refer  to  the  original  tongues  for  the  meaning; 
we  must  still  see  what  they  mean  as  at  present  applied. 
A  knowledge  of  Greek  would  be  a  fair  clue  to  the 
meaning  of  '  thermometer,'  and  '  photometer,'  and  a  few 
others ;  but  for  the  vast  mass  of  these  appropriations,  it 
gives  no  clue  whatever,  or  else  it  puts  us  on  the  wrong 
scent.  *  Barometer,'  as  *  weight-measure,'  would  be  most 
suitably  applied  to  the  common  beam  and  scales;  the 
real  meaning  would  never  be  guessed.  So,  'eudiometer* 
cannot  suggest  its  meaning  to  a  Greek  scholar ;  '  hippo- 
potamus '  is  equally  enigmatic.  Of  the  '  ologies  '  very 
few  correspond  to  their  derivation.  We  have  such  con- 
flicting names  as  '  astrology,  astronomy  ; '  *  phrenology, 
psychology ' ;  '  geology,  geography,'  '  logic,  logographer, 
logomachy ' ;  '  theology,  theogony ' ;  '  aerostatics,  pneu- 
matics.' '  Theology '  being  the  science  of  '  God,'  '  phi- 
lology '  should  be  the  science  of  '  friendship '  or  the 
affections.  It  was  remarked  by  Mr.  Lowe  that  the 
word  '  aneurism,'  to  a  Greek  scholar,  would  be  mis- 
leading ;  he  would  not  at  once  suppose  that  it  is  a 
derivative  of  the  Greek  verb  avsvpvvco,  '  to  widen.'  So 
26 


37^  VALUE  OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

with  the  word     methodist/  the  knowledge  of  Greek  is 
not  a  help  but  a  snare. 

It  is  well  understood  to  be  a  reason  for  borrowing 
foreign  words,  that  they  do  not  suggest  any  meaning  but 
the  one  intended  to  be  coupled  with  them.  In  obtaining 
words  for  new  general  ideas,  our  native  terms  contain 
misleading  associations ;  the  great  virtue  of  the  names — 
'Chemistry,'  'Algebra,'  'rheumatism/  'hydrated,'  'artery,' 
'  colloid  ' — is  that  we  do  not  know  what  they  originally 
meant ;  any  designation  that  we  could  invent  in  our  own 
language  for  such  vast  sciences  as  Chemistry  and  Al- 
gebra would  contain  some  narrow  and  inadequate  con- 
ception which  would  be  a  perpetual  stumbling-block  to 
the  learner. 

The  only  qualification  to  the  principle  of  learning 
the  meanings  of  words  from  present  use  solely,  is,  that 
the  classical  words  in  our  language  are  mostly  deriva- 
tives from  a  small  number  of  roots ;  so  that  a  knowledge 
of  the  meanings  of  say  a  hundred  roots  assists  in  dis- 
covering the  meanings  of  thousands  of  derivatives.  Not 
but  that  we  must  still  check  every  derivative  by  present 
use ;  yet  the  memory  is  considerably  assisted  by  a  know- 
ledge of  the  primitive  meaning  as  partly  retained  in  the 
numerous  compounds.  We  must  observe  the  present  em- 
ployment of  the  words — '  agent,' '  actor,'  '  enact,'  '  action,' 
'  transaction ; '  nevertheless,  when  we  are  informed  of  the 
original  sense  of  the  root  '  ago,'  we  are  enabled  thereby 
to  obtain  a  speedier  hold  of  the  meanings  of  the  de- 
rivations. So  with  the  Greek  roots, — '  logos,'  *  nomos,' 
'  metron,'  *  zoon,'  '  theos,'  &c.  This  advantage,  however,  is 
attainable  without  entering  upon  a  course  of  classical 
study.      The  roots  actually  employed  in  the  language 


AN   INTRODUCTION   TO   STYLE.  377 

are  separated  and  presented  apart,  and  their  derivatives 
set  forth ;  and  we  are  thus  taught  exactly  that  portion  of 
the  Latin  and  Greek  vocabulary  that  serves  the  end  in 
view. 

(2)  The  argument  as  applied  to  the  Grammar  or 
Syntax  of  our  own  language  is  equally  at  fault.  The 
natural  course  in  learning  the  grammatical  order  of 
English  sentences  is  to  study  and  practise  English  com- 
position. To  be  habituated  to  different  sentence  arrange- 
ments must  be  rather  obstructive  than  otherwise.  The 
reference  to  any  other  language  can  only  be  a  matter  of 
curiosity.  If  it  ever  happened  that  our  language  could 
borrow  an  effective  arrangement  of  syntax  from  any 
other  language,  the  borrowing  should  have  taken  place 
once  for  all,  so  that  all  succeeding  ages  might  adopt  it 
as  a  naturalized  usage. 

In  connection  with  this  argument  may  be  taken  the 
frequent  allegation  that  the  classics  are  an  introduction  to 
general  Literature,  as  affording  the  best  models  of  taste 
and  style ;  in  studying  which  we  improve  our  composi- 
tions in  our  own  language.  There  is  here  a  host  of  loose 
assumptions.  The  excellence  of  the  ancient  writers  is 
not  uniform,  and  some  assistance  must  be  given  to  the 
pupil  in  discriminating  the  merits  from  the  defects,  a 
lesson  that  would  be  best  begun  in  our  own  language. 
Moreover,  the  remark  just  made  applies  again.  What- 
ever effects  can  be  transferred  by  us  to  our  own  com- 
positions cannot  remain  to  be  transferred  now.  The 
v.ist'series  of  classical  scholars  that  have  written  in  the 
modern  languages  ought  long  before  this  time  to  have 
embodied  whatever  beauties  can  be  passed  on  from 
the  ancient  literatures.     In  modern  European  literature, 


378  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

there  is  a  large  school  of  imitators  of  the  ancient  authors, 
through  whom  we  can  derive  at  second  hand  ail  the 
characteristic  effects  possible  to  be  reproduced  in  modern 
compositions. 

V.   The  Classical  Languages  are  an  introduction  to 
Philology. 

This  argument  is  one  of  the  recently  discovered 
makeweights  on  the  side  of  classical  teaching.  The 
science  of  Philology  is  a  new  science ;  and  before  launch- 
ing it  into  the  present  controversy,  its  claims  as  a  branch 
of  school  or  college  education  should  be  established  on 
independent  grounds.  Having  its  ultimate  roots  in  the 
human  mind,  like  a  great  many  other  sciences,  it  is  a 
recondite  branch  of  the  vast  subject  of  Sociology,  or 
Society,  viewed  both  as  structure  and  as  history.  Its 
immediate  sources  are  the  existing  languages  of  man- 
kind, which  are  made  the  subject  of  comparative  study, 
with  a  view  to  trace  community  as  well  as  diversity  of 
structure  {whence  springs  Universal  Grammar),  and  also 
historical  connection  and  derivation.  Such  a  subject 
may  enter  into  the  curriculum  of  the  higher  education, 
but  not  at  a  very  early  stage;  it  must  allow  priority  to 
the  more  fundamental  sciences. 

Assuming  that  the  subject  is  to  be  received  among 
school  and  college  subjects,  the  bearing  of  the  classical 
languages  is  somewhat  insignificant.  Latin  and  Greek, 
as  usually  taught,  are  both  defective  and  redundant  in 
their  bearing  on  General  Philology.  They  are  only  two 
languages  out  of  a  multitude  that  have  to  be  more 
or  less  minutely  compared.  The  examples  taken  from 
othei  languages,  Sanscrit  for  example,  are  of  as  great 


THE   ARGUMENTS   INCONCLUSIVE.  379 

importance  as  those  from  Greek  and  Latin,  and  we 
cannot  be  expected  to  make  an  equal  study  of  all  these 
languages.  In  poirit  of  fact,  we  must  be  taught  Philo- 
logy by  examples  cited  from  many  languages,  which  we 
do  not  pay  any  further  attention  to;  and  the  Greek  and 
Latin  examples  may  be  obtained  in  the  same  partial 
way.  The  full  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
authors  does  not  avail  us  for  this  subject.^ 

These  are  the  leading  arguments  in  favour  of  the 
present  system  of  classical  study.  The  supposition  is 
that  by  their  cumulative  effect  they  justify  the  continu- 
ance of  the  system  after  the  original  occasion  of  its  in- 
troduction has  ceased.  On  reviewing  the  tenor  of  these 
arguments,  however,  we  find  that,  after  all,  they  do  not 
support  the  real  contention ;  which  is,  that  Latin  and 
Greek,  and  they  alone,  as  an  undivided  couple,  shall 
continue  to  form  the  staple  of  our  higher  education. 
Several  of  the  arguments  apply  equally  to  modern  lan- 
guages, and  others  would  be  met  by  the  retention  of 
Latin,  by  itself. 

The  case  is  not  complete  until  we  view  the  arguments 
on  the  other  side. 


>  Mr.  Sidgwick  has  some  admirable  remarks  on  this  point  in  his  Essay 
already  referred  to  (p-  94).  Mr.  A.  H.  Sayce  expresses  himself  strongly 
as  to  the  small  linguistic  value  of  the  two  classical  tongues.  '  For  purely 
philological  purposes  they  are  of  less  interest  than  many  a  savage  jargon, 
the  name  of  which  is  almost  unknown,  and  certainly  than  those  spoken 
languages  of  modem  Europe  whose  lift:  and  growth  can  be  watched  like 
that  of  the  living  organism,  and  whose  phrenology  can  be  studied  at  first 
hand.'  'The  greater  the  literary  perfection  of  a  language,  the  less  is  its 
importance  to  the  mere  glottologist'  {Nature,  November  23,  1876). 


380  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

I.   The  Cost. 

The  amount  of  time  consumed  in  classical  teaching 
during  the  best  years  of  youth  is  well  known  to  be  very 
great,  although  not  everywhere  the  same.  In  most  clas- 
sical schools  in  this  country  more  than  half  the  time  of  the 
pupils  is  occupied  with  Latin  and  Greek  for  a  number  of 
years ;  and  not  long  ago,  nearly  the  whole  time  was  taken 
up  in  many  of  our  seminaries.  In  Germany,  at  the 
Gymnasia,  six  hours  a  week  are  given  to  Latin,  for  four 
years,  and  seven  hours  a  week  for  other  two  years  (age 
from  twelve  to  eighteen) :  seven  hours  a  week  are  given 
to  Greek,  for  two  years,  and  six  hours  a  week  for  other 
two  years  (age  from  fourteen  to  eighteen).  At  the  Uni- 
versity, it  is  optional  to  pursue  Classics. 

The  question,  therefore,  arises — Are  the  benefits  com- 
mensurate with  this  enormous  expenditure  of  time  and 
strength  ?  We  might  grant  that  a  small  portion  of  time 
— two  or  three  hours  a  week,  for  one  or  two  years- 
might  possibly  be  repaid  by  the  advantages;  but  we 
are  utterly  unable  to  concede  the  equivalence  of  the 
results  to  the  actual  outlay. 

In  the  more  recent  system  of  teaching,  under  which 
some  attention  is  given  to  the  history  and  the  institutions 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  a  certain  amount  of  valuable 
knowledge  is  intermixed  with  the  useless  parts  of  the 
teaching ;  and  for  this  a  small  figure  must  be  entered 
on  the  credit  side.  But  all  such  knowledge  could  be 
imparted  in  a  mere  fraction  of  the  time  given  to  the 
languages. 

The  classical  system  has  been  the  practical  exclu- 
sion of  all  other  studies  from  the  secondary  or  grammar 


EXCESSIVE  OCCUPATION   OF   TIME.  381 

schools.  For  a  long  time,  the  only  subject  tolerated  in 
addition  was  a  very  elementary  portion  of  Mathematics 
— Euclid  and  a  little  Algebra.  The  pressure  of  opinion 
has  compelled  the  introduction  of  new  branches— as 
English,  Modern  Languages,  and  Physical  Sciences;  but 
either  these  are  little  more  than  a  formality,  or  the  pupils 
are  subjected  to  a  crushing  burden  of  distracting  studies. 
To  be  in  school  five  hours  a  day,  with  two  or  three 
hours  for  home  tasks,  is  too  great  a  strain  on  youths  be- 
tween ten  and  sixteen.  Moreover,  in  the  evening  pre- 
parations, it  is  found  that  the  classical  lessons  absorb  the 
greater  part  of  the  attention.^ 

The  argument  from  disproportionate  cost  is  some- 
times met  by  alleging  the  defectiveness  of  the  usual 
methods  of  teaching  the  languages;  and  many  short 
and  easy  methods  have  been  propounded.  Experience 
has  not  yet  shown  any  means  of  seriously  reducing 
labour;  and  the  thing  is  not  likely.  A  vast  acquisition 
is  unavoidably  involved  in  any  cultivated  language.  The 
Grammar  and  the  Vocabulary  cannot  be  committed  to 
memory  without  a  large  expenditure  of  strength;  and 
the  authors  to  be  read  have  each  their  special  peculiarities 
to  be  mastered.  The  observance  of  the  methods  of  good 
teaching  will  make  a  considerable  and  important  dif- 

'  We  are  rapidly  approaching  a  compromise  between  the  new  and  the 
old  systems,  on  the  basis  of  omitting  one  of  the  two  classical  tongues,  that 
is,  Greek ;  the  Latin  alone  to  continue  as  an  imperative  branch  of  the  cur- 
riculum of  higher  education.  A  considerable  relief  will  no  doubt  be 
<xperienced  by  throwing  Greek  into  option;  but  the  radical  evil  of  our 
Grammar  School  system  will  remain.  The  two  best  hours  of  the  day  for 
several  years  will  still  be  given  to  a  barren  occupation ;  and  the  thorough 
reconstruction  of  the  scheme  of  liberal  studies  will  be  indefinitely  post- 
poucd. 


382  VALUE   OF   THE  CLASSICS. 

ference,  but  will  not  dispense  with  the  demand  of  two  or 
three  hours  a  day  for  several  years  to  attain  a  moderate 
proficiency  in  Latin  and  Greek.  Moreover,  the  system 
as  practised,  throws  away  the  best  known  device  for 
accelerating  lingual  study;  namely,  allowing  a  familiarity 
with  the  subject  matter  of  the  several  authors  to  be 
attained  in  advance.  The  pupils  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
classes  have  not  as  yet  been  initiated  into  any  important 
subject;  and  what  renders  the  study  tolerable  is  the 
large  devotion  of  time  to  the  one  theme  of  universal 
interest — personal  narrative. 

IL   The  mixture  of  co7iflicting  studies  impedes  the  course 
of  the  learner. 

On  the  supposition  that  the  classical  languages  are 
taught,  not  in  their  simple  character  as  languages,  but 
with  a  view  to  logical  training,  training  in  English, 
literary  culture,  general  philology, — the  carrying  out  of 
so  many  applications  at  one  time,  and  in  one  connection, 
is  fatal  to  progress  in  any.  Although  the  languages 
may  never  actually  be  used,  the  linguistic  difficulties  of 
the  acquisition  must  be  encountered  all  the  same ;  and 
the  attention  of  the  pupil  must  be  engrossed  in  the  first 
instance  with  overcoming  these  difficulties.  It  is,  there- 
fore, an  obvious  mistake  in  teaching  method  to  awaken 
the  mind  to  other  topics  and  considerations,  while  the 
first  point  has  not  been  reached.  I  have  everywhere 
maintained  as  a  first  principle  of  the  economy  or  conduct 
of  the  Understanding,  that  separate  subjects  should  be 
made  separate  lessons.  This  is  not  easy  when  two 
studies  are  embodied  in  the  same  composition,  as  Ian 


EVILS   OF   DIVIDED   ATTENTION.  383 

guage  and  meaning ;  in  that  case  the  separation  can  be 
effected  only  by  keeping  one  of  the  two  in  the  back- 
ground throughout  each  lesson. 

The  least  questionable  effect  of  classical  study  (al- 
though one  equally  arising  from  modern  languages)  is 
the  exercise  of  composing  in  our  own  language  through 
translation.  Still,  it  is  but  a  divided  attention  that  we 
can  give  to  the  exercise.  We  are  under  the  strain  of 
divining  the  meaning  of  the  original,  and  cannot  give 
much  thought  to  the  best  mode  of  rendering  it  in  our 
own  language.  This  is  necessarily  a  varying  position. 
There  may  be  occasions  when  the  sense  of  the  original 
is  got  without  trouble,  and  when  we  are  free  to  apply 
ourselves  to  the  expression — in  English,  or  whatever  lan- 
guage we  are  using.  But  this  is  all  a  matter  of  chance ; 
and  such  desultory  fits  of  consideration  are  not  the  way 
to  make  progress  in  a  vast  study.  Moreover,  the  master 
is  a  man  chosen  because  he  is  a  proficient  in  classics,  not 
because  he  has  any  special  or  distinguishing  acquaintance 
with  the  modern  tongue.  Now  it  must  seem  incontestable 
that  the  only  way  to  overtake  an  extensive  and  difficult 
department  of  information  and  training,  is  to  proceed 
methodically,  and  with  exclusive  devotion  of  mind  at 
stated  times,  under  the  guidance  of  an  expert  in  the  de- 
partment. All  experience  shows  that  only  very  inferior 
English  composition  is  the  result  of  translating  from 
Latin  or  Greek  into  English.  There  is  necessarily  a  good 
deal  of  straining  to  make  the  English  fit  the  original ; 
while  the  greater  number  of  the  most  useful  forms  of  the 
language  are  never  brought  into  requisition  at  all. 

There  is  something  plausible  in  the  supposition  of 
cultivating  all  the  faculties  at  one  stroke,  as  if  an  exer* 


384  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

else  could  be  invented  that  could  teach  spelling,  cooking, 
and  dancing,  simultaneously.  Because  the  same  piece  of 
composition  involves  grammar,  rhetoric,  scientific  infor- 
mation and  logical  method,  we  are  not  to  infer  that  it 
should  be  the  text  for  all  these  lessons  at  one  time.  It 
is  not  merely  that  the  way  to  carry  the  mind  forward  in 
the  several  departments  is,  to  keep  it  continuously  fixed 
on  each  for  a  certain  duration ;  equally  pertinent  is  the 
fact  that,  although  every  passage  occurring  in  a  lesson 
must  needs  embody  language,  rhetoric,  and  information, 
the  same  passage  does  not  equally  suit  for  all  the  appli- 
cations. 

It  may  be  true  that  classical  education  is  many-sided  ; 
but  what  if  it  is  defective  on  each  side  ?  '  The  very  fact 
that  the  same  instrument  is  made  to  serve  various  educa- 
tional purposes,  which  seems  at  first  sight  a  very  plausible 
argument  in  its  favour,  is  really,  for  the  majority  of  boys, 
a  serious  disadvantage.'     (Sidgwick,  tit  supra,  p.  1 27.) 

The  study  of  fine  Literary  effects  cannot  be  carried  on 
in  connection  with  Latin  and  Greek,  not  only  because  of 
the  distraction  of  the  mind  with  other  things,  but  be- 
cause of  the  random,  uncertain,  unconsecutive  way  that 
the  examples  are  brought  forward.  Even  if  there  were 
no  order  whatever  in  the  parts  of  a  subject,  still  the 
irregular  presentation  of  these  would  be  adverse  to  a 
cumulative  impression.  The  same  would  apply  to  Ge- 
neral Philology,  if  that  were  regarded  as  one  of  the  uses 
of  classical  study. 

The  conclusion  on  the  whole  is,  that  the  teaching  of 
language  is  most  rationally  conducted  when  it  stands  on 
the  original  footing  of  the  classical  languages  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  i.e.  when  the  language 


LITERATURE   SHOULD   BE   INTERESTING.         3^5 

Itself  as  a  means  of  interpretation  and  communication, 
is  the  fact,  and  the  whole  fact.  The  attention  of  the 
pupils  could  then  be  kept  to  the  one  point  of  mastering 
grammar  and  vocables:  the  authors  studied  would  be 
studied  with  this  sole  aim.  The  language  teacher 
is  not  an  interpreter  and  expounder  of  history,  poetry, 
oratory  and  philosophy,  but  an  instrument  for  enabling 
the  pupils  to  extract  these  from  their  original  sources 
in  some  foreign  tongue. 

III.   The  Study  is  devoid  of  interest. 

This  may  not  be  universally  admitted,  but  it  is  suf- 
ficiently attested  for  the  purposes  of  the  present  argu- 
ment. There  is,  first,  the  dryness  inseparable  from  the 
learning  of  a  language,  especially  at  the  commencement. 
There  is,  next,  the  circumstance  that  the  literary  interest 
in  the  authors  is  not  felt,  for  want  of  due  preparation. 
It  is  a  fact  that,  but  for  the  never-failing  resource  of 
sensation  narrative,  by  which  we  arouse  the  dormant 
intellect  of  the  child  in  the  second  standard,  the  reading 
of  classical  authors  would  be  intolerable  at  the  early  age 
when  they  are  entered  upon. 

It  is  the  nature  of  science  to  be  more  or  less  dry; 
until  its  commanding  power  is  felt  the  path  of  the 
learner  is  thorny.  But  literature  is  nothing,  if  not 
interesting.  There  should  be  even  in  a  course  of  Belles- 
Lettres,  a  certain  amount  of  science,  in  the  shape  of 
generalities  and  technicalities ;  but  these  are  soon  passed, 
and  the  mind  is  free  to  expatiate  in  the  rich  pastures  ol 
the  literary  domain.  Literature,  instead  of  being  the  dis- 
mal part  of  the  school  exercises,  should  be  the  alternative 


386  VALUE   OF   THE   CLASSICS. 

and  relief  from  Mathematics  and  the  elements  of  Science 
generally.  This  cannot  be,  if  the  pupils  are  thrust 
prematurely  upon  a  foreign  literature  while  mastering 
several  new  vocabularies.  It  is  now  plain  to  the  best 
educationists,  that  our  own  literature  must  be  the  first 
to  awaken  literary  interest,  and  prepare  the  way  for 
universal  literature. 

IV.   The  study  panders  too  much  to  authority  in  matters 
of  opinion. 

The  classical  student  is  unduly  impressed  with  the 
views  promulgated  by  the  Greek  and  Roman  authors, 
from  the  very  length  of  time  that  he  is  occupied  with 
them.  The  authority  of  Aristotle,  once  paramount  in 
the  world  of  thought,  has  long  ceased  to  be  infallible, 
but  the  reference  to  his  supposed  opinions  is  still  out 
of  proportion  to  any  value  that  can  now  belong  to  them. 
Any  views  of  his  as  to  the  best  form  of  government,  as 
to  happiness  and  duty,  are  interesting  as  information, 
but  useless  as  practice. 

A  curious  and  expressive  incident  occurred  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  British  Association.  Sir  William 
Thomson,  in  the  course  of  a  paper  read  before  his  section, 
desired  his  hearers,  when  they  went  to  their  homes,  to 
draw  their  pens  through  a  certain  paper  of  his  in  their 
copies  of  the  '  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society.'  It 
would  be  well  if  the  example  were  imitated  by  every 
philosopher  that  has  happened  to  change  any  of  his 
opinions.  Even  if  we  accorded  to  Aristotle  a  command  • 
ing  sagacity  in  Ethics  and  in  Politics,  we  should  like  to 
have  his  latest  decisions  as  to  the  value  of  what  we  now 
possess  as  his  writings. 


OPINIONS  OF   SIDGWICK  AND   ELLIS.  387 

Note  on  recent  views  of  the  Classical  question. 

Mr.  Henry  Sidgwick. — The  article  that  has  been  repeatedly 
referred  to  concludes  with  the  following  recommendations  as  to 
the  subjects  suitable  for  Higher  School  education. 

'  1  think  that  a  course  of  instruction  in  our  own  language 
and  literature,  and  a  course  of  instruction  in  natural  science, 
ought  to  form  recognised  and  substantive  parts  of  our  school 
system.'  '  I  think  also  that  more  stress  ought  to  be  laid  on  the 
study  of  French.'  To  make  room  for  these  additions,  the  ob- 
vious remedy  is  *  to  exclude  Greek  from  the  curriculum,  at  least 
in  its  earlier  stage.'  '  It  is  supposed  that  there  is  a  saving  of 
time  in  beginning  the  study  of  Greek  early.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  very  much  the  reverse  is  the  case,  and  that,  if  several 
languages  have  to  be  learnt,  much  time  is  gained  by  untying  the 
faggot  and  breaking  them  separately.  There  are  two  classes  for 
whom  the  present  system  of  education  is  more  or  less  natural, 
— the  clergy,  and  persons  with  a  literary  bias  and  the  prospect 
of  sufficient  leisure  to  indulge  it  amply.  Boys  with  such  pros- 
pects, and  a  previous  training  of  the  kind  I  advocate,  would  in 
the  average  feel,  as  they  approached  the  last  stage  of  their 
school  life,  an  interest  in  Greek  strong  enough  to  make  them 
take  to  it  very  rapidly.'  *  The  advantage  that  young  children 
have  over  young  men  in  catching  a  spoken  language,  has  led 
some  to  infer  that  they  have  an  equal  superiority  in  learning  to 
read  a  language  that  they  do  not  hear  spoken;  an  inference 
which,  I  think,  is  contrary  to  experience.' 

Mr.  Alexander  /.  Ellis. — In  a  Lecture,  on  the  Acquisition 
of  Languages,  delivered  before  the  College  of  Preceptors,  Mr. 
Ellis  criticizes  severely  the  English  School  system.  He  remarks 
on  the  absurdity  of  talking  of  the  humanizing  effect  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages,  of  the  grand  literatures  they  contain,  and 
so  on — when  the  one  condition  is  wanting,  namely,  '  that  those 
who  acquire  them  should  be  able  to  use  them.'  *  Tha  tree  0/ 
language  is  indeed  vast  in  our  schools ;  but  it  is,  after  all,  but 


388  VALUE  OF  THE  CLASSICS. 

an  overgrown  weed.  Good  masters  learn  to  hang  many  a 
garland  on  its  unsightly  knots  by  the  way,  and  to  bend  many  ol 
its  branches  into  unnatural  but  more  or  less  useful  directions.' 

*  These  results  are  not  legitimate  deductions  from  teaching 
languages.' 

*  Every  speaker  is  bound  to  know  his  own  language  first, 
without  relation  to  other  languages.*  '  Lessons  in  language 
should  be  supplemented  with  lessons  on  things.  We  must 
have  something  to  speak  and  write  about  besides  language 
itself      After    English,   should  come   German  and   French. 

*  Hitherto,  German  and  French  have  been  regarded  as  the 
accomplishments,  and  Latin  and  Greek  as  the  staple,  of  literary 
education.  It  is  time  to  reverse  the  terms.  Latin  and  Greek 
have  drifted  into  being  accomplishments.'  *  If  a  boy  is/*  up  " 
m  English  at  ten ;  knows  his  German,  to  the  extent  indicated 
at  twelve,  and  his  French  at  fourteen ;  he  will  be  a  better  Latin 
scholar  at  sixteen,  and  Greek  scholar  at  eighteen,  than  the 
majority  of  those  who  leave  our  public  schools.'  '  Literature 
is  one  of  the  very  last  things  to  be  attacked.  To  appreciate  it, 
requires  much  education,  often  much  experience  of  life,  and 
great  familiarity  with  the  language,  and  often  with  social  habits 
and  customs.' 

Mr.  Matthew  Arnold. — At  the  close  of  his  Report  to  '  The 
Schools'  Inquiry  Commission'  on  the  Middle  Schools  of  Ger- 
many, Mr,  Arnold  adverts  to  the  conflict  of  the  modern  spirit 
with  the  old  exclusive  classical  system,  and  indicates  whathe  con- 
siders the  true  solution.  *  The  ideal  of  a  general,  liberal  training 
is,  to  carry  us  to  a  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  the  world.  We  are 
called  to  this  knowledge  by  special  aptitudes  which  are  born 
with  us:  the  grand  thing  in  teaching  is  to  have  faith  that  some 
aptitudes  for  this  everyone  has.  This  one's  special  aptitudes 
are  for  knowing  men — the  study  of  the  humanities;  that  one's 
special  aptitudes  are  for  knowing  the  world — the  study  of  nature. 
The  circle  of  knowledge  comprehends  both,  and  we  should  all 
have  some  notion,  at  any  rate,  of  the  whole  circle  of  knowledge. 


MATTHEW   ARNOLD'S   VIE,WS.  389 

The  rejection  of  the  humanities  by  the  realists,  the  rejection  of 
the  study  of  nature  by  the  humanists,  are  alike  ignorant.  He 
whose  aptitudes  carry  him  to  the  study  of  nature  should  have 
some  notion  of  the  humanities;  he  whose  aptitudes  carry  him 
to  the  humanities  should  have  some  notion  of  the  phenomena 
and  laws  of  nature.  Evidently,  therefore,  the  beginnings  of  a 
lil)eral  culture  should  be  the  same  for  both.  The  mother  tongue, 
the  elements  of  Latin  and  of  the  chief  modern  languages,  the 
elements  of  history,  of  arithmetic  and  geometry,  of  geography, 
and  of  the  knowledge  of  nature,  should  be  the  studies  of  the 
lower  classes  in  all  secondary  schools,  and  should  be  the  same 
for  all  boys  at  this  stage.  So  far,  therefore,  there  is  no  reason 
for  a  division  of  schools.  But  then  comes  a  bifurcation,  ac- 
cording to  the  boy's  aptitudes  and  aims.  Either  the  study  of 
the  humanities  or  the  study  of  nature  is  henceforth  to  be  the 
predominating  part  of  his  instruction.' 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  RENOVATED    CURRICULUM. 

On  the  supposition  that  Languages  are  in  no  sense  the 
main  part  of  Education,  but  only  helps  or  adjuncts  under 
definite  circumstances,  the  inference  seems  to  be,  that 
they  should  not,  as  at  present,  occupy  a  central  or  lead 
ing  position,  but  stand  apart  as  side  subjects  available 
to  those  that  require  them. 

I  conceive  that  the  curriculum  of  Secondary  or 
Higher  Education  should,  from  first  to  last,  have  for  its 
staple  the  various  branches  of  knowledge  culture,  in- 
cluding our  own  language.  The  principal  part  of  each 
day  should  be  devoted  to  these  subjects;  while  there 
should  be  a  certain  amount  of  spare  time  to  devote  to 
languages  and  other  branches  that  are  not  required  of 
all,  but  may  be  suitable  to  the  circumstances  of  indi- 
viduals. 

The  essentials  of  a  curriculum  of  the  Higher  Educa- 
tion may  be  summed  up  under  three  heads : — 

I.  Science,  including  the  Primary  Sciences,  as 
already  set  forth ;  some  one  or  more  of  the  Natural 
History  Sciences — Mineralogy,  Botany,  Zoology,  Geo- 
logy ;  to  which  may  be  added  Geography.  To  what  ex- 
tent this  vast  course  should  enter  into  general  education 


SCOPE   OF   THE   HUMANITIES.  39 1 

has  already  been  sufficiently  discussed.  Our  present  pur- 
pose does  not  require  the  nice  adjustment  of  details. 

II.  A  course  of  the  HUMANITIES,  under  which  I 
include  (r)  History,  and  the  various  branches  of  Social 
Science  that  can  be  conveniently  embraced  in  a  metho- 
dical course.  Mere  narrative  History  would  be  merged 
in  the  Science  of  Government,  and  of  Social  Institutions, 
to  which  could  be  added  Political  Economy,  and,  if 
thought  fit,  an  outline  of  Jurisprudence  or  Law.  This 
\vould  put  in  the  proper  place,  and  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous order  of  study,  one  large  department  recently 
incorporated  with  the  teaching  of  the  classical  languages, 
by  way  of  redeeming  their  infertility. 

(2)  Under  the  Humanities  might  next  be  included 
a  view,  more  or  less  full,  of  Universal  Literature.  Pre- 
supposing those  explanations  of  the  Literary  Qualities 
and  Arts  of  Style  that  should  be  associated,  in  the  first 
mstance,  with  our  own  language,  and  also  some  familiarity 
with  our  own  Literature,  we  could  proceed  to  survey  the 
course  and  development  of  the  Literature  of  the  World 
through  its  principal  streams,  including  of  necessity  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Classics.  It  is  needless  to  add  that 
this  should  be  done  without  demanding  a  study  of  the 
original  languages.  How  far  a  Philosophy  of  Literature 
should  penetrate  the  survey  I  do  not  at  present  enquire. 
Materials  already  exist  in  abundance  for  such  a  course. 
It  is  the  beau-ideal  of  Rhetoric  and  Belles- Lettres  as 
conceived  by  the  chief  modern  authorities  in  the  depart- 
ment, as  for  example,  Campbell  and  Blair  in  last  century. 
Only,  I  should  propose  that  the  elements  of  Rhetoric,  in 
connection  with  our  own  Literature,  should  lead  the  way. 

Such  a  course  would  carry  out,  with  effect  and 
27 


392  THE    RENOVATED   CURRICULUM. 

thoroughness,  what  is  very  imperfectly  attempted  in 
conjunction  with  the  present  classical  teaching.  A  toler- 
ably complete  survey  of  the  chief  authors  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  with  studies  upon  select  portions  of  the  most 
important,  could  be  achieved  in  the  first  instance;  and 
it  might  be  possible  to  include  also  a  profitable  ac- 
quaintance with  the  great  modern  literatures. 

III.  English  Composition  and  Literature.  — 
This  might  either  pervade  the  entire  curriculum,  or  be 
concentrated  in  the  earlier  portions,  the  General  Litera- 
ture being  deferred.  What  it  comprises,  according  to 
my  view,  has  been  sufficiently  stated.  The  survey  of 
Universal  Literature,  would  operate  beneficially  upon 
the  comprehension  of  our  ov/n. 

These  three  departments  appear  to  me  to  have  the 
best  claims  to  be  called  a  Liberal  Education.  The  de- 
viation from  the  received  views  is  more  in  form  than 
In  substance.  I  would  not  call  Science  alone  a  Liberal 
Education,  although  a  course  that  implied  a  fair  know- 
ledge of  the  Primary  Sciences,  a  certain  amount  of 
Natural  Science,  and  a  wide  grasp  of  Sociology,  would 
be  no  mean  equipment  for  the  battle  of  life.  I  think, 
however,  that  the  materials  of  Sociology  might  be 
accumulating  all  through  the  curriculum,  and  might 
serve  to  alleviate  the  severity  of  the  strictly  scientific 
course. 

I  think,  moreover,  that  a  Liberal  Education  would 
not  be  generally  considered  complete  without  Literature, 
although  people  must  needs  differ  as  to  the  amount.  I 
hold  that  the  three  departments  stated  are  sufficiently 
comprehensive  for  all  the  purposes  of  a  general  educa- 


PROPER  PLACE  OF  LANGUAGES.        393 

tion,  and  that  no  other  should  be  exacted  as  a  condi- 
tion of  the  University  Degree — the  received  mode  of 
stamping  an  educated  man. 

Such  a  course  should  be  so  conducted  as  to  leave  a 
portion  of  time  and  strength  for  additional  subjects.  An 
average  of  two  to  three  hours  a  day  might  be  occupied 
with  the  continuous  teaching  in  the  three  departments. 
Assuming  a  six  years'  curriculum — covering  the  Second- 
ary School  and  the  University  courses — it  is  easy  to  see 
that  a  large  amount  of  thorough  instruction  might  be  im- 
parted in  those  limits ;  leaving  perhaps  one  third  of  the 
pupils'  available  time,  for  other  things. 

Of  the  extra,  or  additional  subjects,  Languages  would 
have  the  first  claim.  These,  however,  should  not  be 
under  any  authoritative  prescription ;  they  should  never 
enter  into  any  examinations  for  testing  general  acquire- 
ments. Every  person  going  through  such  a  course  as 
we  have  supposed,  would  be  urged  and  advised  to  take 
up  at  least  one  foreign  language,  giving  the  preference 
to  a  modern  language:  the  intention  being  to  learn 
it  up  to  the  point  of  use  as  a  language.  How  many 
languages  any  given  person  should  study  must  depend 
upon  circumstances.  The  labour  of  a  new  language 
is  not  to  be  encountered  without  a  distinct  reason.  It 
is  never  too  late  to  learn  any  language  that  we  discover 
ourselves  to  be  in  want  of.  If  we  need  it  for  information 
on  a  particular  subject,  we  can  learn  it  up  to  that  point 
and  no  farther. 

An  hour  every  day  may  be  available  at  any  part  of 
the  course  for  a  new  language,  whether  modern  or 
ancient.  If  either  Latin  or  Greek  is  taken  up,  it  would 
be  learnt  strictly  by  the  grammar  and  the  dictionary ; 


394  '^^^'^   RENOVATED   CURRICULUM. 

Just  as  Dutch  or  Gaelic  would  be  learnt:  we  should  not 
diverge  into  literary  matters,  or  the  criticism  of  beauties; 
all  which  would  be  reduced  to  a  small  compass,  after  a 
suivey  of  the  literature,  and  a  familiarity  with  good 
translations. 

There  would  be  no  need  to  begin  the  study  of  lan- 
guage early,  and  little  advantage:  and  it  would  be 
undesirable  to  take  two  languages  together.  There  are 
other  matters  to  divide  the  extra  hours  with  languages. 
I  need  only  mention  Elocution  as  appertaining  to  every 
one.  For  more  special  tastes  would  be  provided  Music 
and  Drawing.  There  would  also  be  a  variety  of  special 
courses  on  branches  of  knowledge  not  embraced  in  the 
regular  curriculum.  In  a  well-provided  institution,  there 
might  be  classes  devoted  to  Anglo-Saxon,  General  Phi- 
lology, select  portions  of  History,  and  so  on.  I  am  not 
specially  adverting  to  the  topics  preparatory  to  the 
several  professions. 

•  The  reasons  for  the  change  now  proposed  have  been 
given  in  substance  already.  They  are  contained  in  the 
general  argument  as  to  the  position  of  languages  in 
general,  and  of  classics  in  particular.  Besides  the  consi- 
deration that  languages  should  be  learnt  only  when  meant 
to  be  used  as  languages,  I  have  all  along  put  great  stress 
on  the  wastefulness  of  carrying  on  several  incongruous 
lessons  at  one  time.  From  the  first  statement  of  the 
Laws  of  Agreement  onwards,  I  have  contended  for  the 
necessity  of  like  going  with  like  in  the  same  exercise. 

I  have  also  urged  the  economy  of  learning  language 
after  laying  up  a  good  stock  of  ideas.  Setting  aside 
the  pronunciation  of  a  foreign  language,  the  acquisition 


EXCESSIVE   SPECIALISING   OF   STUDIES.  395 

of  the  grammar  and  the  vocabulary  is  easier  late  than 
early ;  any  decay  in  the  plastic  force  of  memory  is  more 
than  made  up  by  the  other  advantages. 

The  scheme  thus  set  forth  appears  the  only  means  of 
arresting  the  tendency  inevitable  at  the  present  day  to 
excessive  specializing  of  the  studies  constituting  a  liberal 
education.  It  is  the  supposed  necessity  of  retaining 
dead  languages  and  of  adopting  foreign  living  languages 
as  an  integral  part  of  education,  that  leads  to  options  so 
very  wide  as  to  leave  out  science  almost  entirely  from 
one  course,  and  literature  almost  entirely  from  another. 
A  mere  language  course,  containing  as  it  does  irregu- 
lar smatterings  of  history  and  of  literature,  is  not  an 
adequate  cultivation  of  the  human  faculties;  it  is  de- 
fective both  on  the  side  of  training  and  on  the  side  of 
knowledge  imparted.  On  the  other  hand,  I  regard  it  as 
equally  undesirable  to  limit  the  course  of  study  to  science, 
still  less  to  physical  science  (excluding  Logic  and  Psy- 
chology), least  of  all  to  Mathematics  and  Physics. 

The  more  obvious  objections  to  the  proposed  curri- 
culum may  be  glanced  at. 

First.  It  will  be  called  by  the  dreaded  name — Revo- 
lution. Yet  the  revolutionary  element  is  not  very  great 
after  all.  It  consists  only  in  putting  languages  in  the 
second  place,  reserving  the  first  to  the  subject-matter. 
The  scheme  pays  great  regard  to  the  element  of  the 
antique,  as  represented  by  Greece  and  Rome,  and  would 
render  the  acquaintance  with  the  history  and  literatures 
of  both  countries,  more  general  and  more  thorough  than 
at  present.  A  day  may  come  when  this  amount  ol 
attention  will  be  thought  too  much. 


39^  THE   RENOVATED   CURRICULUM. 

Second.  Classics  will  be  ruined.  To  this  there  are 
several  answers.  According  as  people  believe  the  classical 
languages  to  be  useful,  they  will  keep  them  up  to  that 
extent  and  no  more.  But  classics  will  never  cease,  so 
long  as  the  existing  endowments  continue.  A  small 
number  of  persons  will  always  be  encouraged  to  master 
those  languages  thoroughly,  so  as  to  maintain  the  study 
of  the  history  and  literature  of  the  ancient  world.  The 
teachers  of  ancient  literature  would  be  expected  to  know 
the  originals;  and  they  alone  would  constitute  a  con- 
siderable body. 

Third.  Some  minds  are  incapable  of  science,  and 
more  especially  of  Mathematics,  the  foundation  of  the 
whole.  In  answer  to  this  we  may  freely  concede,  that 
many  minds  find  abstract  notions  exceedingly  distasteful 
and,  as  a  consequence,  difficult.  Men  of  admitted  ability 
have  been  found  incapable  of  mastering  Euclid,  while  at 
home  in  languages,  and  in  literature.  In  this  case,  how- 
ever, the  disproportionate  pursuit  of  the  one  department 
has  been  the  real  obstacle.  The  experience  of  existing 
Universities  shows  that  four  men  out  of  five  can  pass  foi 
a  degree,  containing  elementary  Mathematics.  Perhaps 
their  comprehension  of  the  subject  is  not  great  or  exact ; 
but  if  their  minds  were  more  disengaged,  they  could 
understand  it  sufficiently  to  go  on  with  a  course  of  the 
experimental  and  other  sciences,  in  which  the  interest 
would  be  more  universal. 

Although  there  are  men  of  good  judgment  or  prac- 
tical sense,  who  have  never  had  any  abstract  teaching, 
and  might  seem  incapable  of  it,  yet  the  highest  order  of 
judgment  combines  both  abstract  notions  with  concrete 


SCIENCE   ESSENTIAL.  397 

experience;  and  in  a  thoroughly  liberal  education,  ab- 
stract science  ought  not  to  be  dispensed  with. 

It  may  be  remarked  finally  that  any  man  possessing 
a  thoroughly  grammatical  knowledge  of  several  languages 
is  not  wanting  in  aptitude  for  abstract  science ;  grammar 
does  not  amount  to  a  scientific  discipline,  but  it  attests 
the  capability  of  undergoing  such  a  discipline.^ 

'  The  curriculum  now  roughly  sketched  would  harmonize  the  course  of 
primary  and  secondary  education,  and  do  away  with  the  troublesome  bifur- 
cation of  the  Ancient  and  the  Modern  sides,  which  at  present  complicates 
and  embarrasses  ouu higher  schools  and  colleges.  The  work  of  the  primary 
school  is  necessarily  on  the  lines  here  laid  down,  and  could  be  made  stiU 
more  profitable  by  a  closer  adherence  to  the  same  plan.  There  would  be 
tL  common  ground  for  all  the  professions  to  meet. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

MORAL  education: 

The  difficulties  of  moral  teaching  exceed  in  every  way 
the  difficulties  of  intellectual  teaching.  The  method  of 
proceeding  is  hampered  by  so  many  conditions,  that  it 
barely  admits  of  precise  demonstration  or  statement. 

Morality  is  in  the  situation  of  the  mother  tongue : 
it  does  not  depend  solely  on  the  school  teacher,  or  on 
any  one  source  ;  it  is  imbibed  from  innumerable  sources  ; 
and  the  school  does  not  even  rank  as  one  of  the  chief. 
There  are  unquestionably  inborn  tendencies,  more  or  less 
powerful,  to  make  men  prudent,  and  just,  and  generous, 
when  once  they  are  placed  in  the  suitable  circumstances. 
But  experience  shows  that  these  native  forces  are  not 
fully  adequate  to  the  desired  end  ;  and  society  super- 
adds a  special  discipline  to  make  up  for  the  defects. 
The  greater  part  of  this  discipline,  however,  is  not 
teaching,  in  the  common  meaning  of  the  word,  but 
the  public  dispensation  of  punishment  and  reward. 

As  man  is  not  a  solitary  animal,  but  spends  his  whole 
life  in  the  society  of  fellow-beings,  there  grows  up  in 
the  individual  bosom  a  set  of  social  sentiments  or  feel- 
ings of  a  very  mixed  character ;  the  dependence  of 
each  one  on  the  rest  involves  both  the  lowest  and  the 


FIRST   MORAL  IMPRESSIONS.  ■         399 

highest  of  our  gratifications.  We  have  to  think  of  others 
in  everything  that  we  do  :  our  personal  wishes  are  biassed 
by  what  those  about  us  wish  ;  our  conduct  is  shaped  by 
our  various  social  relationships. 

What  we  have  to  do  to  others,  and  what  we  have  to 
expect  from  others,  are  at  first  learnt  by  personal  ex- 
perience. We  are  introduced  to  society  in  a  state  of 
total  dependence,  we  follow  our  own  wills  only  in  so 
far  as  we  are  allowed  ;  and  we  have  to  accommodate 
ourselves  to  our  circumstances,  to  do  and  to  refrain  from 
doing,  at  the  dictation  of  superior  power.  This  habitua- 
tion to  obedience,  in  prescribed  lines,  is  our  first  moral 
education,  and  represents  by  far  the  greatest  part  of 
that  education  in  its  whole  compass.  By  acting  and  re- 
acting on  the  numerous  individuals  that  we  encounter 
in  various  social  relationships,  we  obtain  both  the  know- 
ledge of  duty,  and  the  motive  to  do  it. 

Besides  our  own  personal  contact  with  parents, 
masters,  superiors,  friends,  and  the  influence  exercised 
by  those  on  our  own  conduct,  we  are  witnesses  to  the 
demeanour  of  our  fellows  in  their  dependence  upon  the 
surrounding  society.  We  see  the  obstruction  offered  to 
their  free-will,  the  pain  inflicted  on  transgression,  the 
approval  of  obedience  and  compliance.  In  short,  we 
are  taught  by  innumerable  examples  what  society  wills 
that  each  person  should  do,  and  what  are  the  conse- 
quences of  doing  and  of  not  doing.  All  these  examples 
we  take  to  heart,  and  they  augment  the  influence  of 
society  in  our  moral  education. 

This  primary  and  personal  source  of  moral  educa- 
tion is  analogous  to  the  education  in  physical  law^  by 
personal  experience  of  their  working  for  good  and  for 


4CX)  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

evil.  We  learn  to  subject  our  conduct  to  the  influences 
of  the  natural  world — to  avoid  stumbling,  running 
against  posts,  scalding  ourselves,  and  drowning  ;  to  court 
all  pleasant  things — sunshine,  warmth,  sweet  tastes, 
nourishment.  We  are  soon  habituated  to  a  set  conduct 
in  accordance  with  these  physical  laws,  and  that  without 
anybody's  teaching  ;  although  we  ultimately  derive  great 
benefit  from  the  fruits  of  other  people's  experience. 

It  is  quite  conceivable  that  our  personal  intercourse 
with  human  beings  in  varied  relationships  might  be  of 
itself  sufficient  to  give  us  all  the  moral  habits  necessary  to 
a  good  citizen  ;  just  as  the  children  in  a  cultivated  family 
acquire  language  and  breeding,  of  the  highest  degree  of 
polish,  by  mere  unavoidable  imitation.  Indeed,  if  we 
survey  the  history  of  the  human  race,  in  the  vast  majo- 
rity of  situations  no  other  education  is  given.  The 
child  learns  to  avoid  blows,  to  conciliate  favour,  by  its 
own  encounters  with  parents,  companions,  superiors,  and 
equals  ;  extended  by  observation  of  others  doing  the 
same.  No  other  moral  lessons  are  read  in  the  usages 
of  the  uncivilised  tribes.  The  situation  is  even  repro- 
duced among  ourselves.  The  virtues  of  the  soldier  are 
formed  almost  exclusively  by  the  operation  of  the  army 
penal  code.  He  knows  by  his  own  experience  and  by 
the  observations  of  others,  the  penalty  of  disobedience  ; 
he  avoids  that  penalty  first  by  a  special  volition,  and 
subsequently  by  acquired  bent  or  habit. 

After  clearly  understanding  that  the  mutual  encounter 
of  human  beings  socially  related  is  the  one  never-failing 
source  of  social  good  conduct,  in  other  words,  morality 
(^in  its  beginning  and  its  type),  we  can  consider  what  are 
tlie  defects  or  shortcomings  of  this  method,  and  by  what 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  AS   A   DISCIPLINARIAN.      40I 

Other  methods  these  are  found  to  be  best  overcome.  Tn 
such  subsidiary  devices  consists  what  is  usually  styled 
moral  teaching,  which  is  the  corrective  of  the  hard 
matter-of-fact  teaching  of  good  and  evil  consequences, 
just  as  the  science  and  traditions  of  the  race  improve 
upon  the  individual  experience  of  the  physical  laws. 

Whatever  may  be  the  supplementary  modes  of 
enforcing  morality,  we  may  assume  that  they  are  in 
keeping  with  the  primitive,  the  sure  and  perennial  mode, 
of  trial  and  error,  or  actual  experience  of  the  human 
relations.  The  rude  and  painful  shock  of  collision  with 
the  wills  of  others  may  be  anticipated  and  thrust  aside 
in  such  a  way  that  the  moral  may  be  still  impressed  ;  or 
when  actually  occurring,  it  may  be  so  improved  upon  by 
a  well-managed  commentar}'-,  as  to  be  avoided  in  the 
future.  But  in  either  case,  the  motive  power  is  what 
happens  in  real  life ;  the  evil  and  the  good  that  we 
experience  at  the  hands  of  others  are  the  forces  for 
keeping  us  in  the  orbit  of  duty. 

The  schoolmaster,  in  common  with  all  persons  exer- 
cising control  for  a  particular  purpose,  is  a  moral  teacher 
or  disciplinarian  ;  contributing  his  part  to  impress  good 
and  evil  consequences  in  connection  with  conduct.  For 
his  own  ends,  he  has  to  regulate  the  actions  of  his 
pupils,  to  approve  and  disapprove  of  what  they  do  as 
social  beings  related  to  one  another  and  to  himself.  He 
enforces  and  cultivates  obedience,  punctuality,  truthful- 
ness, fair  dealing,  courteous  and  considerate  behaviour, 
and  whatever  else  belongs  to  the  working  of  the  school. 
Whoever  is  able  to  maintain  the  order  and  discipline 
necessary  to  merely  intellectual  or  knowledge  teaching, 
will  leave  upon  the  minds  of  his  pupils  genuine  moral 


402  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

impressions,  without  even  proposing  that  as  an  end.  If 
the  teacher  has  the  consummation  of  tact  that  makes 
the  pupils  to  any  degree  in  love  with  the  work,  so  as 
to  make  them  submit  with  cheerful  and  willing  minds 
to  all  the  needful  restraints,  and  to  render  them  on  the 
R'hole  well-disposed  to  himself  and  to  each  other,  he  is 
a  moral  instructor  of  a  high  order,  whether  he  means  it 
or  not. 

This,  however,  is  not  all  that  is  expected  of  the 
ordinary  teacher — at  least  in  the  primary  schools.  He 
(or  she)  is  expected  to  give  express  lessons  of  a  moral 
kind,  whether  with,  or  apart  from,  religious  lessons ;  and 
these  lessons  are  something  over  and  above  what  grows 
out  of  the  work  of  teaching  knowledge  elements.  The 
teacher  is  assumed  to  be  something  more  than  one  of 
our  fellow-beings  echoing  approbation  and  disapproba- 
tion, and  swelling  the  chorus  of  voices  that  engrain  right 
dispositions  on  the  youthful  mind.  As  an  intellectual 
or  scientific  expositor,  probably  also  as  a  persuasive  mo- 
nitor, he  concentrates  and  methodizes  the  scattered  and 
random  moral  impressions  of  every-day  life,  so  that  *  a 
day  in  his  courts  is  better  than  a  thousand '  in  the 
general  world. 

The  additional  moral  teaching  by  separate  lessons, 
having  no  reference  to  the  actual  incidents  of  the  school, 
must  operate  by  referring  to  ideal  incidents  and  situa- 
tions, chosen  for  their  illustrative  character.  The  recol . 
lection  of  actual  facts,  and  the  imagination  of  depicted 
facts,  are  appealed  to,  and  their  moral  lesson  duly  ex- 
pressed. This  exercise  has  its  advantages  and  its  dis- 
advantages. 

The  advantages  resemble  the  superiority  of  experi- 


CUMULATIVE   EXAMPLES   OF   THE   VIRTUES.        403 

ment  to  observation  in  science.  Cases  in  point  are 
contrived  to  show  the  evils  of  the  various  vices,  and  the 
good  consequences  of  the  virtues.  A  cumulative  im- 
pression is  made  in  favour  of  the  line  of  conduct  that 
ought  to  be  followed  in  given  situations.  The  exposition 
of  the  mischiefs  and  the  dangers  of  falsehood,  instead 
of  being  left  to  chance  occurrences  and  scattered  effects, 
liere  a  little  and  there  a  little,  is  made  more  emphatic 
by  gathering  together  a  host  of  instances,  real  and 
feigned,  working  to  one  total  effect. 

For  such  lessons,  a  good  classification  of  virtues  and 
vices  is  a  prime  essential.  The  teacher  needs  to  have  a 
clear  scheme  before  him,  in  order  to  concentrate  his 
teaching.  If  the  same  thing  is  repeated  under  various 
names,  the  result  is  mere  distraction  of  mind.  The 
fundamental  virtues  need  to  be  grasped  in  the  first 
instance,  and  to  be  indicated  under  their  best-known 
designations :  also  they  should  be  exemplified  in  pure 
and  typical  instances.  The  mixed  and  modified  virtues 
are  then  rendered  intelligible. 

The  main  disadvantage  of  the  scheme  arises  from  the 
weak  conceptive  power  of  the  pupils.  Imagined  cases 
of  virtue  and  vice  do  not  always  have  their  full  effect, 
with  minds  that  are  little  experienced  in  the  ways  of 
the  world.  It  becomes  necessary  to  put  the  examples 
in  forms  that  are  too  unqualified,  and  that  leave  defec- 
tive and  one-sided  impressions,  not  easy  to  be  got  rid  of. 

In  Ethics,  as  in  other  subjects,  there  may  be  a  desul  - 
tory  treatment,  preparatory  to  the  regular  and  methodical 
treatment.  Instances  may  occur  conveniently  by  chance, 
and  may  be  used  to  make  an  impression  ;  but  then,  like 
cases  in  law,  they  must  carry  their  principle  on  their 


404  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

face,  which  requires  them  to  be  properly  generalized  , 
and  this  involves  the  same  subtle  perception  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil  as  is  implied  in  the  understanding  of 
the  classified  virtues, 

A  few  words  on  the  Classification  of  the  Virtues.  The 
cardinal  virtues,  in  the  modern  treatment,  are  Prudence, 
Probity  or  Justice,  and  Benevolence.  PRUDENCE  is 
sometimes  described  as  the  Duties  that  we  owe  to  our- 
selves, but  this  is  not  the  most  suitable  expression. 
Prudence,  or  self-regarding  conduct,  stands  in  a  very 
different  position  from  the  two  other  cardinal  virtues : 
it  has  the  support  of  our  own  natural  self-seeking  im- 
pulses. The  obstacles  to  be  overcome  are — want  of 
knowledge,  and  present  impulse.  Knowledge  is  gained 
in  time,  and  may  be  aided  by  teaching ;  impulse  can  be 
to  a  small  extent  checked  or  controlled  by  guidance, 
admonition,  and  representation  of  future  consequences. 
The  important  point  is,  that  this  is  not  the  region  of 
authority,  except  in  the  parental  sphere  ;  but  the  region 
of  friendly  advice,  information,  and  assistance.  It  is  the 
more  necessary  to  attend  with  rigour  to  the  speciality 
of  the  prudential  virtue,  that  we  are  always  prone  to 
assume  the  air  of  authority  in  dealing  with  those  that 
are  in  our  power :  and  moreover,  there  is  an  easy  pre- 
text for  making  prudence  a  matter  of  obligation,  inas- 
much as,  if  any  man  is  imprudent  in  his  own  affairs,  he 
is  likely  to  fail  in  some  of  his  duties  to  others.  If  a 
parent  is  idle,  spendthrift,  or  drunken,  his  family  suffer. 
Neveitheless,  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  a  gain  in  per- 
suasiveness, by  taking  each  virtue  in  its  own  proper 
character,  in  the  first  instance  ;  and  the  proper  character 


CLASSIFICATION   OF  THE  VIRTUES.  405 

of  prudence  is  the  enlightened  regard  to  our  own 
interest.  This  is  the  first  and  easiest  conquest  over 
our  inherent  moral  weaknesses.  The  line  to  be  pur- 
sued is  special  and  distinct. 

The  aspects  and  departments  of  Prudence — as  In- 
dustry, Thrift,  Temperance — are  all  intelligible,  and 
should  be  kept  in  view  by  the  teacher,  in  his  scheme  of 
the  virtues. 

A  very  great  part  of  Prudence  unavoidably  concerns 
our  relations  with  others ;  for  to  get  the  most  we  can 
from  life,  we  must  behave  well  to  everyone  that  has 
the  power  to  help  or  to  thwart  us.  This  social  situation 
also  brings  into  view  our  duties  properly  so-called — Jus- 
tice and  Benevolence  ;  still  we  must  rigidly  abstain  from 
entering  on  these,  while  our  aim  is  to  impress  the  self- 
regarding  proprieties.  The  reasons  will  presently  be 
seen. 

The  virtue  of  Probity,  or  JUSTICE,  ranks  first  among 
our  social  duties  or  obligations.  Justice  is  the  protec- 
tion of  one  man  against  every  other  man  ;  it  is  what  is 
embodied  in  the  laws,  and  enforced  by  penalties.  The 
promulgation  of  these  penalties,  as  already  remarked, 
is  the  primary  teaching  of  Justice.  The  teaching  of  the 
schoolmaster  co-operates,  by  endeavouring  to  correct  in 
advance  the  evil  dispositions  that  incur  the  penalties.  The 
essential  idea  of  Justice  is  reciprocal^ood,  and  reciprocal 
abstinence  from  harm.  It  is  the  conduct  imposed  alike 
upon  all,  for  the  advantage  of  each.  Nobody  is  ex- 
pected to  do  more  or  less  than  what  is  prescribed  for 
every  member  of  the  society. 

The  virtue  of  BENEVOLENCE  is  something  beyond 
justice.    It  is  doing  good  irrespective  of  the  social  ncccs- 


406  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

sities  that  Justice  proceeds  upon.  It  is  not  enjoined  by 
penalties,  but  recommended  to  the  voluntary  choice  of 
individuals.  Its  chief  occasion  is  distress  or  privation 
arising  through  inequality  of  fortune,  and  through  the 
accidents  that  render  individuals  unable  to  support 
themselves. 

Self-sacrifice,  devotedness,  kindness,  pity,  compas- 
sion, doing  good,  beneficence,  philanthropy — are  among 
the  numerous  designations  for  this  portion  of  moral  duty. 
Besides  all  which,  there  are  certain  qualities  that  seem 
either  to  fall  under  the  two  other  heads  or  to  stand 
altogether  apart,  but  that  really  come  under  the  present 
head.  Fortitude,  courage,  constancy,  contentment — are 
prudential  virtues  to  appearance,  but  the  high  praise 
accorded  to  them  shows  that  they  are  supports  of  Jus- 
tice and  Benevolence  ;  Honesty  is  a  name  for  probity 
carried  to  the  length  of  positive  benevolence. 

The  virtue  of  Truth  is  sometimes  regarded  as  an 
independent  virtue  ;  but,  in  reality,  it  is  an  adjunct  of 
the  others.  It  is  a  remarkably  precise  virtue :  it  does 
not  admit  of  gradations,  in  the  same  sense  as  the  others; 
it  is  a  matter  of  yea  or  nay. 

These  three  fundamental  virtues  cross  and  re-cross 
at  so  many  points,  that  it  needs  a  steady  grasp  to  hold 
each  class  firmly  according  to  its  essential  nature ;  yet 
this  is  what  the  moral  teacher  should  be  able  to  do,  if  he 
is  to  marshal  his  resources  in  the  most  eff*ective  way. 
A  good  course  of  Moral  Science  should  impart  this 
fundamental  qualification. 

Next  to  classifying  the  Virtues,  is  the  correct  appre- 
hension of  the  Motives.     There  is  an  equal  liability  to 


THE   MOTIVES   CORRECTLY  APPREHENDED.        407 

confusion  as  regards  these.  The  fundamental  division  is 
into  Self- regarding  and  Extra- regarding  or  Social  ;  and 
as  each  of  these  classes  readily  simulates  the  other, 
there  is  the  same  necessity  for  viewing  each  in  its  pro« 
per  character  at  the  outset.  Prudence  is  the  area  of 
self- regarding  motives :  Justice  supposes  a  mixture  of 
the  self- regarding  and  the  social :  Benevolence  is  the 
region  of  the  Social  or  altruistic  regards,  pure  and  pro- 
per, together  with  a  certain  high  and  refined  class  of 
self-regarding  motives,  growing  out  of  our  social  dis- 
positions. 

The  appeal  to  the  SELF-REGARDING  motives  follows 
a  line  peculiar  to  itself,  which  is  well  understood  in  ora- 
tory. It  consists  in  making  apparent  the  bearings  of  con- 
duct upon  the  individual's  own  welfare;  and  is  to  be  kept 
distinct.  The  virtues  of  industry,  thrift,  temperance,  de- 
votion to  study  or  to  knowledge,  have  each  their  reward, 
which  ought  to  be  rendered  as  palpable  and  evident  as 
possible.  All  this  is  to  be  clearly  distinguished  from 
the  social  bearings,  in  order  that  each  one  of  the  forces 
may  attain  its  full  momentum.  Moreover,  there  are 
many  reasons  why  it  is  much  easier  to  work  upon  the 
selfish  feelings  of  men,  than  upon  the  other  class. 

It  is  in  addressing  the  SOCIAL  MOTIVES  that  we  are 
chiefly  liable  to  commit  mistakes.  We  are  here  work- 
ing upon  the  exceptional  part  of  the  human  constitution, 
the  small  corner  of  self-devotion ;  and  we  are  in  con- 
stant danger  of  quitting  the  narrow  road  to  it,  for  the 
broad  way  of  prudential  self  regard.  We  shall  not  suc- 
ceed in  evoking  great  virtues  by  teaching  and  persuasion; 
unless  we  can  clearly  keep  before  us  the  social  motives, 
first  in  their  purest  type  of  absolute  self-sacrifice,  and 
28 


408  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

next  in  their  mixed  character  as  made  up  of  the  social 
cravings  and  pleasures. 

There  are  many  arts  bearing  on  such  an  attempt, 
which  are  minutely  detailed  under  the  philosophy  of 
Sympathy.  The  one  point  to  be  steadily  kept  in  view 
is  this.  The  social  aptitudes,  like  everything  else,  must 
be  exercised  ;  and  the  mode  of  exercising  them,  is  by 
directing  and  securing  the  attention  upon  the  wants  and 
the  feelings  of  others.  The  most  palpable  form  is  Pity 
for  manifest  distress  ;  next  is  Sympathy  with  the  plea- 
sures of  our  fellow-beings  ;  and,  by  plying  these  exer- 
cises, a  habit  of  taking  interest  in  those  about  us  is 
likely  to  be  fostered.  So  to  conduct  the  operation 
as  to  keep  out  altogether  the  self-seeking  motives,  is 
the  delicate  part  of  the  task. 

The  second-class  motives  of  Sociability— the  cravings 
for  Love,  Affection,  Pity — are  perhaps  the  most  power- 
ful instrument  of  moral  suasion  :  for,  while  having  a 
genuinely  altruistic  side,  they  contain  a  very  large  mass 
of  purely  self-regarding  emotions.  To  urge  them  exclu- 
sively is  to  degenerate  from  the  high  standard  of  pure 
altruism:  and  the  most  successful  result  will  not  be 
anything  very  lofty.  Yet  there  is  a  lower  deep,  and 
a  greater  danger,  namely,  to  make  the  cultivation  of 
mutual  regards  bring  forth,  not  pure  affection,  but  mere 
worldly  advantage. 

A  third  survey  equally  necessarj''  for  the  moral 
teacher,  is  the  Relationships  of  Society  :  beginning  at 
Jthe  P'amily,  and  extending  to  the  State  and  the  World 
at  large.  A  clear  conception  should  be  attained  of  the 
exact  bearing  of  every  one  of  the  Social  groupings  —what 


PERSUASIVE  ADDRESS.  4O9 

It  is  intended  for,  and  what  it  is  not  intended  for — so  as 
to  define  the  conduct  suited  to  each.  This  comes  under 
the  wide  department  of  Sociology,  or  Social  Science  and 
Philosophy,  which  is  irregularly  provided  for  in  the 
school  curriculum.  The  study  of  the  relationship  of 
parent  and  child,  master  and  servant,  ruler  and  subject 
— has  an  understood  moral  bearing,  and  may  be  prose- 
cuted in  that  view. 

A  further  condition  of  successful  moral  teaching  is 
a  command  of  the  stores  of  Language  and  diction  that 
embrace  the  topics  of  moral  suasion.  This  leads  at  once 
to  the  higher  region  of  spoken  address,  as  exempli- 
fied by  our  greatest  orators.  Without  a  certain  com- 
pass of  expression,  and  that  well  directed  to  the  purpose, 
no  one  can  hope  to  produce  deep  moral  impressions  by 
mere  teaching  ;  and  hence  very  little  is  to  be  expected 
of  the  common  schoolmaster  working  in  his  own  strength. 
It  is  only  by  being  provided  with  good  and  suitable 
compositions,  to  be  made  use  of  in  his  teaching,  that  he 
can  exert  any  influence  raised  above  the  effect  of  the 
common-place  maxims  floating  in  society — '  Honesty  is 
the  best  policy,'  '  be  just  before  you're  generous,'  '  in  all 
things  look  to  the  end,'  *  bear  and  forbear,'  *  do  all  the 
good  you  can,'  &c. 

The  briefest  glance  at  moral  teaching  must  not  omit 
the  topic  of  Moral  Ideals.  It  is  in  Morality,  more  espe- 
cially, that  the  teacher  works  by  putting  forward  grand, 
lofty,  and  even  unapproachable  Ideals  ;  the  supposition 
being  that  the  charm  and  attractiveness  of  these  will 
make  a  far  more  powerful  impression  than  any  unvar- 


4IO  MORAL  EDUCATION. 

nished  statement  of  consequences.  From  the  earliest 
recorded  ages,  the  moral  education  of  mankind  has  pro- 
ceeded upon  a  system  of  habitual  exaggeration,  as  if 
the  naked  truth  of  things  would  not  answer  the  end. 
Hardly  any  usage  has  a  larger  consensus-  than  this.  The 
miseries  of  vice  and  the  glorious  prospects  of  virtue  are 
always  depicted  in  terms  far  beyond  the  fact.  Unless 
in  some  degree  successful  for  its  purpose  the  practice 
could  hardly  be  so  universal.  The  moral  influence  of 
an  excited  ideal  of  future  good  or  evil  must  be  looked 
upon  as  something  very  considerable.  For  we  cannot 
be  blind  to  the  dangers  or  disadvantages  of  the  system. 
In  substituting  the  license  of  imagination  for  the  restraints 
of  truth,  we  incur  serious  liabilities.  There  must  be  some 
limits  set  to  exaggeration,  even  for  its  own  purpose : 
and  these  limits  have  not  been  duly  observed  in  the 
stimulating  compositions  that  are  embodied  in  the  les- 
son-books. But  until  this  whole  subject  has  been  revised 
for  wider  application  than  the  school,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  teacher  should  quarrel  with  the  mate- 
rials put  into  his  hand.  All  that  he  can  do  is  to  keep 
well  before  him  the  sober  facts  of  life,  as  a  counterpoise 
to  the  poetic  flights  of  the  lesson-book.  While  in  the 
Ideal,  self-devotion  or  self-sacrifice  is  depicted  so  as  to 
kindle  a  momentary  glow,  the  hard  reality  warns  us 
that  only  a  very  small  portion  of  this  can  be  engrained 
in  the  average  individual.  Rivalry,  competition,  over- 
grasping  and  supplanting— are  what  we  have  to  deal 
with  on  one  side  ;  and  on  the  other,  we  have  to  set 
the  tendencies  to  the  social,  the  sympathetic,  and  the 
amiable ;  and  close  is  the  game  we  have  to  play  in  the 
encounter. 


REPUGNANCE  TO   MORAL  LECXURES.  4II 

In  the  few  remaining  pages  that  can  be  devoted  to 
this  great  subject,  I  will  indicate  what  most  requires 
caution  in  plying  moral  lessons. 

I.  A  large  part  of  the  tactics  of  the  teacher  is  deter- 
mined by  the  natural  repugnance  of  human  nature  to 
the  whole  subject.  Pupils  would  much  rather  be  in 
structcd  in  knowledge  than  be  lectured  on  virtue ;  while, 
as  regards  knowledge,  want  of  liking  is  not  so  fatal  to 
the  end.  The  use  of  the  fable,  the  parable,  and  the 
example,  is  evidently  meant  to  avoid  direct  lecturing, 
and  to  reach  the  mind  by  insinuation  and  circumven- 
tion. 

The  lesson  that  arises  unsought,  that  obtrudes  itself 
on  the  attention  when  engaged  in  other  matters,  is  the 
most  effective  of  all.  This  is  one  of  the  incidents  of  his- 
torical reading  ;  but  there  should  not  be  an  obvious  con- 
trivance to  bring  it  about.  Moral  reflections  that  are 
self-originating,  that  arise  unavoidably  in  a  given  situa- 
tion, are  likely  to  yield  an  abiding  impression.  The 
spectacle  of  disaster  from  want  of  forethought,  from 
quarrels  and  dissensions,  from  culpable  ignorance, 
awakens  the  thoughtful  mind  to  the  value  of  the  leading 
prudential  virtues. 

Tales,  narratives,  and  biographies,  that  suggest  the 
high  moral  qualities,  produce  their  greatest  effect  when 
spontaneously  perused  ;  their  recurrence  in  the  lesson- 
book,  as  tasks,  introduces  the  drawback  of  dictation 
from  without,  which  it  needs  much  tact  on  the  part  of 
the  master  to  suppress.  The  books  of  the  children's  own 
choice,  read  without  any  responsibility,  are  their  most 
persuasive  monitors.' 

'  'The  well-meant  but  futile ' — '  Hence  we  should  learn,'  and  '  how  im* 


412  ^  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

2.  The  moral  teacher  all  through  must  work  by  con- 
ciliation, and  not  by  fear.  In  order  to  produce  a  certain 
external  appearance  of  good  conduct,  fear  and  punish- 
ment v/ill  succeed;  but  the  inward  sentiment  cannot  be 
gained  in  the  same  way.  Wherever  concealment  is  prac- 
ticable, we  need  to  address  the  free-will  of  the  subject. 
The  attempt  at  compulsion  only  increases  the  natural  per- 
versity. At  an  early  age,  when  the  child  is  pliable  under 
influence,  and  not  so  much  given  to  self-assertion,  re- 
probation and  punishment  sink  into  the  mind,  and  mould 
its  inward  sentiments  of  right  and  wrong ;  but  we  must 
carefully  watch  the  moment  of  transition  from  this 
humble  and  susceptible  period  to  the  development  of 
egotistic  preferences,  under  which  the  same  system  will 
no  longer  work.  For  boys  and  girls  above  twelve,  we 
may  as  a  rule  pronounce  that  moral  lecturing,  except  in 
actual  discipline,  is  misplaced ;  and  only  a  very  round 
about  approach  to  the  subject  can  be  borne.  In  the 
higher  Schools  and  Universities  direct  moral  teaching 
is  by  common  consent  disused  as  part  of  the  ordinary 
class  work. 

3.  We  may  appeal  at  any  time  to  the  prudential  or 
self-regarding  motives,  provided  we  do  not  seem  to  be 
courting  pretexts  for  repression  and  prohibition.     If  we 

portant  it  is  ever  to  remember, '  answer  no  purpose  whatever  in  Education, 
except  that  of  giving  the  congS  to  the  minds  of  children,  whether  as  audi- 
tors or  readers  :  it  is  a — '  Now  you  may  go,  while  I  preach.'  The  efficacious 
mode  of  instilling  moral  principles,  as  suggested  by  the  history  of  nations, 
is,  at  choice  moments,  and  when  all  minds  are  seen  to  be  in  a  state  of  gentle 
emotion,  and  in  a  plastic  mood,  to  drop  the  word  or  two  of  practical  in- 
ference, to  enounce  the  single,  pithy,  well-digested  sentiment,  which,  by  its 
natural  affinity  with  the  excited  feelings,  at  the  moment,  shall  combine 
itself  with  the  recollected  facts.  (Isaac  Taylor,  Home  Education^ 
p.  258.) 


SELF-REGARDING   MOTIVES.  4^3 

show  genuine  anxiety  for  the  interests  of  our  pupils,  we 
shall  be  listened  to  with  attention ;  our  chief  danger  is, 
that  we  look  further  ahead  than  their  vision  can  foll<jw 
us.  To  paint  a  picture  of  future  consequences  that  shall 
be  neither  extravagant  nor  unintelligible  is  the  standing 
difficulty.  At  an  early  age  insurmountable,  it  diminishes 
with  years,  but  always  puts  the  utmost  strain  upon  the 
tact  of  the  teacher ;  nor  are  there  many  good  models 
provided  as  aids.         » 

The  intermediate  class  of  motives— neither  purely 
self-regarding,  nor  purely  heroic — are  the  social  likings 
and  affections,  including  compassion  and  pity.  The 
cravings  for  affection  undergo  considerable  changes  in 
the  critical  periods  of  mental  growth.  At  first,  depend- 
ence inclines  to  the  loving  mood  ;  then  comes  the  age 
of  vigorous  impulses  and  self-sufficiency,  when  the  lust 
of  power  carried  to  domination  and  cruelty  is  rampant, 
— as  in  the  flower  of  boyhood.  Very  little  is  now  gained 
by  appeals  to  love,  affection,  and  pity ;  the  moment 
chosen  must  he  very  opportune  to  give  a  chance  of  suc- 
cess. Possibly  this  is  the  age  when  the  higher  altruistic 
or  heroic  motives  may  be  used.  Yet  it  is  in  the  employ- 
ment of  these  higher  appeals  that  cautious  reserve  is 
most  wanted.  There  is  in  every  human  breast  a  certain 
response  to  the  trumpet  call  of  heroic  self-sacrifice ;  but 
it  should  be  kept  for  special  occasions,  and  not  wasted. 
The  quantity  of  it  that  ever  turns  to  action  is  very  small 
in  the  mass  of  minds  ;  the  earth  is  salted  by  the  heroism 
of  the  few. 

There  is  a  mixed  sentiment,  containing  a  spice  of 
the  heroic,  with  a  large  element  of  the  egotistic,  that  can 
be  successfully  appealed  to  in  counterworking  the  baser 


414  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

forms  of  egotism.  This  is  the  sentiment  of  Honour  and 
Personal  Dignity,  which  is  cherished  by  social  position, 
and  may  be  found  in  all  but  the  most  worthless.  To 
stigmatize  conduct  as  low,  debasing,  degrading,  shame- 
ful, dishonourable,  unworthy,  is  a  very  powerful  weapon, 
at  all  times;  and  it  is  the  appeal  found  most  telling  in 
the  unruly  years  of  youth.  The  temperance  orators  have 
not  discovered  a  stronger  buttress  to  their  cause  than_ 
this.  It  would  be  advantageous  to  every  teacher  to  be 
able  to  wield  this  topic  of  address  with  skill  and  delicacy, 
care  being  taken  to  husband  it  for  great  emergencies, 

4.  Much  as  Plato  has  been  criticized  for  his  severe 
judgment  on  Poets,  the  fact  remains  that,  taken  as  mo- 
ral teachers,  they  are  given  to  exaggeration.  They  are 
artists  first,  and  moralists  next;  and  art,  aiming  at  the 
agreeable,  is  adverse  to  imposing  restraints  or  self-denial. 
When  the  sphere  of  Poetry  is  extended,  as  it  ought  to 
be,  to  include  Romance,  we  feel  at  once  the  force  of  the 
observation.  The  poet  expresses,  as  no  one  else  can, 
whatever  is  grand,  sublime,  noble,  in  conduct,  and  is  thus 
an  aid  in  the  stimulus  to  the  heroic.  But  the  safer  basis 
for  the  teacher  is  History  ;  Pericles,  Timoleon,  King 
Alfred,  John  Hampden,  Grace  Darling,  can  be  depicted 
in  the  colours  of  sobriety  and  truth  without  detriment 
to  their  inspiring  example.  The  heroes  of  romance  and 
poetry  are  most  frequently  impossible  combinations.  A 
poet  is  either  very  sanguine  and  holds  out  delusive  hopes, 
or  else  cynical,  and  distorts  the  legitimate  expectations 
of  the  human  mind.  .  In  Romance,  the  personages  are 
sure  to  be  over-rewarded  for  any  good  they  do.  A  poet 
that  would  lend  his  genius  to  the  vocation  of  moral 
teaching,  would  endeavour  to  be  true  to  life,  and  yet 


MUTUALITY  IN   SERVICES.  4^5 

colour  it  with  a  gentle  halo  of  the  attractive  and  agree- 
able ;  and  such  would  be  the  kind  of  composition  that 
the  instructor  of  youth  would  desiderate  to  assist  him  in 
his  work. 

We  do  not  quarrel  with  our  laureate  for  his  lines  in 
tlie  Ode  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington — 

Not  once  or  twice  in  our  fair  island  story, 
The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory — , 

but  we  know  that  the  glory  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
demanded  many  other  conditions  than  duty ;  and  that 
very  few,  in  any  age,  come  to  glory,  however  well  they 
do  their  duty.  A  teacher  might  make  a  safe  and  sober 
lesson  out  of  the  Duke's  career,  without  altogether 
ignoring  his  great  personal  endowments  and  his  ad- 
vantages of  fortune. 

5.  The  vast  theme  of  Mutuality  in  services,  good 
offices,  and  affection,  is  inexhaustible.  The  purpose  ol 
self-devotion  or  self-sacrifice  in  one  man  is  not  to 
pander  to  the  self-seeking  of  other  men,  but  to  make 
them  enter  into  the  relationship  of  mutual  giving  and 
receiving,  in  which  human  beings  find  their  greatest 
happiness.  One-sided  devotion  is  temporary  and  pro- 
visional ;  if  it  does  not  bring  the  fruit  of  reciprocation,  it 
naturally  ceases.  So  great,  nevertheless,  is  the  realized 
blessing  of  genuine  mutuality,  that  we  should  go  great 
lengths  to  attain  it. 

The  most  salient  example  of  the  principle  of  mutu- 
ality is  courtesy,  or  nmtual  kindness  in  small  things. 
People  can  be  educated  thus  far  with  comparative  ease 
To  go  the  length  of  bearing  one  another's  heavier  bur- 
dens is  a  much  rarer  achievement.     Yet  there  is  very 


4l6  MORAL  EDUCATION. 

little  substantial  virtue  without  this.  The  difficulty  lies 
in  commencing;  we  feel  so  little  assured  that  we  are  not 
throwing  away  our  sacrifices.  The  average  man  cannot 
afford  to  be  generous  when  all  around  him  are  selfish. 

In  inculcating,  as  the  teacher  must,  the  duty  of 
working  for  others,  he  should  not  throw  overboard 
the  reciprocity  of  services,  as  the  crowning  of  the  work. 
This  alone  keeps  his  pace  steady,  under  the  incitements 
of  highly  wrought  ideals  of  self-devotion ;  it  is  the  reward 
that  is  neither  illusory,  nor  infinitely  remote. 

6.  Humanity,  in  the  shape  of  forbearance  in  the  first 
place,  and  of  active  help  under  extreme  need  in  the 
next,  is  the  best  worn  topic  of  the  lessons  to  the  young. 
The  tales  accommodated  to  this  end  are  numerous  and 
happily  told  ;  and  the  iterations  of  it  during  the  earliest 
years  cannot  be  without  fruit.  Like  everything  else,  it 
suffers  by  being  ill-timed  or  overdone  ;  but  if  a  teacher 
is  instrumental  in  making  any  moral  impression  at  all, 
it  should  be  this.  True,  the  effect  produced  on  tender 
years  will  be  submerged  in  the  un-tender  years  that 
follow  them,  but  it  will  ultimately  re-appear.  It  is  well 
that  the  youngest  should  begin  to  feel  revulsion  against 
cruelty,  oppression,  intolerance ;  against  the  horrors  of 
slavery  and  the  brutality  of  despotism  ;  and  not  least, 
against  the  abuse  of  power  over  the  lower  animals. 

7.  The  virtue  of  Truth-telling  calls  for  a  special 
remark.  The  telling  of  a  lie  is  an  act  so  explicit  and 
distinct,  that  it  can  be  brought  home  to  the  offender 
beyond  all  possibility  of  evasion.  There  is,  however,  a 
defect  of  treatment  when  lying  is  regarded  as  vice  stand- 
ing onJts  own  independent  foundation.  In  point  of  fact, 
there  is  always  a  power  behind  that  needs  also  to  be 


EXAMPLE  OF  ANIMALS  WEAK.  417 

grappled  with.  A  He  is  told  to  gain  a  purpose  -to 
evade  a  penalty  or  secure  an  advantage  ;  and  we  should 
trace  it  back  to  its  groundwork  in  these  primary  forms 
of  selfishness,  and  deal  more  with  them  than  with  their 
formal  instrument.  The  admonition  or  the  punishment 
can  be  made  much  more  appropriate  when  the  insti- 
gating motive  is  before  us.  A  lie  to  escape  a  tyrant's  rod, 
is  not  the  same  as  lying  to  snatch  an  unfair  advantage ; 
and  the  mode  of  treatment  should  vary  with  the  motive. 
It  is  only  such  as  are  fairly  and  kindly  dealt  with  that 
grow  up  truth-speaking ;  in  them,  lies  are  without  palli- 
ation or  excuse :  with  others,  telling  the  truth  under  all 
circumstances  is  moral  grandeur,  and,  when  commended 
as  an  example,  should  be  set  forth  as  heroic. 

8.  It  may  bring  these  desultory  remarks  to  a  point 
to  advert  more  particularly  to  some  of  the  common  mis- 
carriages in  well-meant  moral  teaching.  There  are  a 
good  many  commonplaces  of  moral  suasion  that  do 
not  bear  a  scrutiny ;  that  are  either  sophistical  in  prin- 
ciple, or  nugatory  in  operation,  A  few  examples  will 
suffice. 

A  common  lesson  with  children  is  drawn  from  the  ex- 
ample of  animals,  especially  as  an  incitement  to  industry. 
The  bee  and  the  ant  are  supposed  to  put  to  the  blush 
the  idle  among  human  beings.  As  an  agreeable  exercise 
of  the  fancy,  such  comparisons  could  be  tolerated  ;  but 
there  is  no  suitability  or  relevance  in  likening  subjects  so 
widely  removed  as  human  beings  and  insects.  There  is 
no  record  of  anyone  being  made  industrious  really  by 
the  example  of  the  bee ;  it  may  be  reasonablj-  doubted 
whether  any  animal  was  ever  adopted  as  a  model  of  any 
virtue,  or  as  a  beacon  against  any  vice.     Such  aUusions 


4^8  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

should  never  be  treated  as  serious;  they  are  simply  fan. 
ciful  and  amusing  ;  and  may  easily  become  silly.  Though 
children  cannot  be  made  logical,  they  need  not  be  made 
illogical  by  false  analogies.  If  the  ant  is  a  model  for 
industry,  it  is  equally  so  for  slave-keeping,  and  for  all 
those  other  questionable  practices  recently  reported  by 
Sir  John  Lubbock  as  found  in  ant  communities. 

Notwithstanding  that  Industry  is  not  the  fulfilling  of 
the  whole  law,  it  is  at  least  the  basis  and  sine  qud  twti 
of  the  other  virtues.  Hence,  to  reconcile  the  young  to 
abandon  ease  and  self-indulgence  for  labour  is  one  of 
the  most  urgent  topics  of  moral  suasion.  The  greatness 
of  the  stake  makes  it  all  the  more  incumbent  on  us  not 
to  make  any  false  move.  Our  incentives  should  be 
well-grounded  in  fact,  as  well  as  efficacious  with  those 
addressed.  Now  it  seems  a  wrong  start,  to  take  the 
very  high  ground,  so  often  taken,  that  labour  is  a  good 
or  a  blessing  in  itself;  that  people  cannot  be  happy 
without  it ;  that  the  most  miserable  of  mankind  are 
those  that  have  nothing  to  do.  A  correcter  view  of  the 
necessity  of  labour  would  be  equally  influential  as  a  mo- 
tive. Every  well-constituted  human  being  has  a  certain 
amount  of  disposable  energy,  to  expend  which  gives 
some  pleasure,  or  at  worst,  is  not  painful,  while  health 
lasts.  This  is  to  be  employed  in  gaining  a  livelihood, 
and  as  many  enjoyments  as  possible.  There  is  some- 
times a  reluctance  to  be  overcome  in  employing  this 
amount  of  strength  for  any  purpose ;  and  often  a  great 
reluctance  in  employing  it  in  particular  ways.  Yet  such 
reluctance  has  to  be  overcome ;  nay  more,  the  expen- 
diture of  strength  must  often  reach  the  point  of  painful 
fatigue.     Still,  considering  that  without  enduring  these 


HOW   TO   VIEW   POVERTY.  419 

crosses,  we  cannot  obtain  the  supply  of  our  wants,  still 
less  the  greater  pleasures  of  life,  our  wisdom  lies  in 
submitting  to  the  evil  for  the  sake  of  the  good.  Such 
is  the  fair  account  of  the  conditions  of  Labour.  There 
is  great  exaggeration  in  describing  the  miseries  of  the 
idle  rich  :  we  may  even  exaggerate  the  misery  of  the 
idle  poor ;  for  these  rely  upon  others  for  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  and,  in  consideration  of  ease,  can  do  with- 
out luxuries.  This  position  should  be  assailed  as 
grovelling,  despicable,  and  precarious,  rather  than  as 
absolutely  miserable. 

There  is  much  needless  and  transparent  sophistry  in 
pronouncing  all  labour  alike  honourable.  It  is  true  in  a 
certain  narrow  sense,  that  to  work  for  one's  livelihood 
is  to  enter  into  the  common  brotherhood  of  men,  on 
whom,  with  a  few  exceptions,  this  necessity  is  laid.  But 
honour  means  distinction,  the  singling  out  of  a  few 
among  the  many.  For  reasons,  partly  natural,  partly 
conventional,  some  kinds  of  labour  are  highly  rewarded 
both  with  money  and  with  rank ;  in  fact,  there  is  an 
understood  gradation  in  all  services,  and  this  cannot  be 
smoothed  down.  A  common  soldier  if  he  does  his  duty, 
has  a  certain  amount  of  payment  and  esteem,  but  both 
one  and  the  other  are,  and  must  be,  very  moderate 
indeed. 

On  the  sad  subject  of  Poverty,  the  proper  line  must 
always  be  to  dwell  upon  its  remediable  side.  In  the  case 
of  those  that  have  become  old  or  disabled  without  re- 
sources, there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  provide  support  at 
the  charge  of  somebody ;  but  for  those  beginning  life, 
the  grand  lesson  to  aim  at  is  to  surmount  the  evil 
There  is  a  certain  moral  courage  in  Burns's  refrain— 


420  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

*we  dare  be  poor  for  a'  that,'  but  it  has  little  else  in  its 
favour.  Contentment  is  not  an  unquahfied  virtue ;  it 
applies  only  after  we  have  done  our  best. 

It  is  in  this  connection  that  sound  economical  lessons 
are  so  valuable.  We  have  to  deal,  at  the  present  day, 
with  vast  volumes  of  discontent,  more  or  less  openly 
displayed.  The  teacher  cannot  avoid  the  topic  of  the 
enormous  inequalities  of  human  conditions,  and  it  will 
demand  some  skill  to  keep  clear  of  sophistry ;  indeed, 
if  he  is  to  follow  in  the  commonplace  tracks,  he  will  find 
sophistry  plentiful.  Inequality  has  its  first  legitimate 
justification  in  superior  industry,  energy,  and  ability ; 
affluence  is  the  fruit  of  an  industrious  career.  The  in- 
equality thus  brought  about  is  respected  by  everyone 
but  the  thief.  The  next  stage  opens  up  all  the  difficul- 
ties. The  successful  man  bequeaths  his  amassed  fortune 
to  his  children,  relieving  them  from  labour  in  every 
shape;  and  the  expediency  of  respecting  property  is 
made  to  cover  this  case  also.  Is  there  to  be  no  limit 
then  to  accumulation  ?  The  question  is  a  political  or 
social  one :  the  sole  mode  of  meeting  the  natural  dis- 
content with  prevailing  inequalities,  is  a  Social  Science 
discussion  ;  and  the  wants  of  the  time  require  this  to  be 
thorough. 

We  have  viewed  Morality  hitherto  without  naming  its 
connection  with  Religion.  The  schoolmaster  of  the 
primary  school  is  expected  to  be  an  instructor  in  Reh'- 
gion,  both  in  its  own  proper  character,  and  as  the  support 
of  the  highest  morality.  If  a  very  formal  and  perfunc- 
tory discharge  of  this  duty  were  not  readily  accepted,  it 
would  be  the  teacher's  heaviest  burden.     Any  remarks 


RELIGION,   AND   MORALITY.  42 1 

that  I  have  to  offer  on  so  vexed  a  subject,  will  be  in  the 
same  general  direction  as  the  whole  of  the  present  work, 
namely,  the  distinguishing  of  the  diverse  elements  in 
aggregates  that  pass  as  indivisible  wholes. 

Some  contend  that  Religion  and  Morality  cannot  be 
soparated  for  an  instant.  The  philosopher  Kant  went 
far  to  identify  the  two:  his  object  was  to  make  Morality 
supreme.  Others  think  the  identity  necessary  in  order 
to  make  Religion  supreme.  A  middle  view  is  decidedly 
called  for  here :  Morality  is  not  Religion,  and  Religion 
is  not  Morality  ;  and  yet  the  two  have  points  of  coinci-? 
dence.  Morality  cannot  be  the  same  thing  without  Re- 
ligion as  with  it ;  Religion,  working  in  its  own  sphere, 
does  not  make  full  provision  for  all  the  moral  exigencies 
of  human  life.  The  precepts  of  morality  must  be  chiefly 
grounded  on  our  human  relations  in  this  world,  as  known 
by  practical  experience ;  the  motives  too  grow  very 
largely  out  of  those  relations.  Religion  has  precepts  of 
its  own,  and  motives  of  its  own  ;  and  these  are  all  the 
more  effectively  worked,  when  worked  in  separation. 

'  '  The  first  and  most  necessary  instrumental  for  conveying  ethical  infor- 
mation to  the  ahogether  untutored,  would  be  an  ethical  catechism.  It  ought 
to  go  before  the  religious  catechism,  and  to  be  taught  separately,  and  quite 
independent  of  it,  and  not,  as  is  too  often  done,  taught  along  with  it,  and 
thrust  into  it,  as  it  were  by  parentheses ;  for  it  is  singly  on  pure  ethic 
principles  that  a  transit  can  be  made  from  virtue  to  religion,  and  when  the 
case  is  otherwise,  the  confessions  are  insincere.' — Kant's  Metaphysic  of 
Ethics,  Scrapie's  Translation,  p.  329. 

•  Perhaps  truth  is  in  some  degree  sacrificed  to  system  when  we  attempt 
to  keep  the  boundary  line  between  morality  and  religion  clearly  marked  ; 
but  it  holds  true  in  general  that  morality  is  concerned  with  the  conduct, 
religion  with  the  emotions  ;  that  morality  consists  in  the  consciousness  of  a 
subjective  release  from  all  bondage.  The  moral  precepts,  which  are  obeyed 
by  many,  are  not  deduced  from  the  religious  sentiments,  which  are  ck- 
perienced  by  few ;  but  the  connection  long  assumed  to  exist  between  mo 


422  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

We  have  seen  what  are  the  difficulties  and  the  snares 
of  teaching,  when  morality  is  taken  by  itself ;  namely, 
the  jumbling  up  of  prudential,  social,  and  heroic  motives, 
no  one  class  receiving  its  fair  and  full  expansion.  The 
embroilment  as  regards  method  and  order  must  become 
worse  by  the  addition  of  Religious  doctrines  and  the 
Religious  bearings  of  morality.  It  is  then  that  we  have 
lessons  given  in  our  schools  like  this — on  Truthfulness : 
*  Truthfulness  is  the  moral  quality  we  transgress  when 
we  tell  a  lie.  There' is  no  external  reward  for  it ;  it  is 
pleasing  to  God  ;  we  gain  a  happy  conscience  ;  it  is  the 
duty  we  owe  to  our  neighbour.'  Such  is  a  form  of  tuition 
prescribed  by  a  Head  Master  under  the  London  School 
Board. 

The  teaching  of  Religion,  on  its  own  account,  is 
conducted  in  schools  by  means  of  Bible  lessons,  with 
or  without  a  doctrinal  Catechism.  In  many  Teaching 
Manuals,  the  management  of  the  Bible  lesson  is  minutely 
formulated.  In  the  German  Schools,  the  order  of  topics 
in  Religious  instruction  is  officially  laid  down  ;  the 
simple  Bible  narratives  are  given  first,  and  the  com- 
pendium of  Doctrines  last.  If  the  aim  of  the  whole 
were  the  giving  of  knowledge,  as  in  ordinary  instruction, 
the  plans  to  follow  would  be  such  as  we  have  been 
engaged  in  investigating  all  through.     And,  no  doubt, 

rnlity  and  religion  is  not  the  less  real  because  the  order  of  it  has  been 
inverted,  for  it  is  by  the  acceptance  of  the  most  abstract  conclusions  of 
morality  that  the  mind  is  prepared  to  receive  the  intuitions  of  religion. 
The  fiuit  of  religious  culture  is  a  disposition  to  do  the  good  without  com- 
pulsion, without  inducement,  by  an  instinct  that  does  not  stop  to  choose  o» 
reason,  and  on  that  very  account  is  able  to  override  the  force  of  impeding 
motives.'— A W«ra/Z«w,  by  Miss  Edith  Simcox,  p.  i8o. 


HOW   RELIGION   CAN    BE   TAUGHT.  423 

tl.ore  is  an  intellectual  element  in  Religion  ;  but  the 
essence  of  Religion  must  always  be  something  Emo- 
tional ;  and  the  culture  of  Emotion  is  not  carried  on 
advantageously  in  ordinary  school  teaching.  The  system 
that  is  best  for  securing  the  intellectual  element,  is  not 
best  for  securing  the  emotional  element.  Regularity  of 
lesson,  method  and  sequence,  a  certain  rigour  of  disci- 
pline— are  all  in  favour  of  a  steady  progress  in  know- 
ledge ;  but  the  calling  out  and  exercising  of  warm 
affection,  or  deep  feeling,  depend  on  improving  oppor- 
tunities or  events  such  as  scarcely  occur  in  school 
experience.  The  official  direction  of  the  National 
Schools,  in  taking  securities  against  proselytism  and 
sectarian  bias,  on  the  part  of  teachers,  deprives  them 
of  the  freedom  of  action  that  is  needed  for  producing 
emotional  impressions. 

In  the  introductory  Psychological  chapter,  we  glanced 
at  some  of  the  specialities  attending  the  growth  of  asso- 
ciations with  the  feelings  ;  under  the  most  favourable 
circumstances,  such  growths  need  long  years  to  attain 
the  intensity  requisite  to  raise  them  to  the  pitch  of  high 
moral  influence.  This  applies  pre-eminently  to  the 
Religious  feelings  ;  seeing  that  these  are  expected  to  be 
a  power  in  themselves  to  compensate  for  the  ills  of  life. 
We  look  to  the  wrong  place,  when  we  entrust  this 
operation  to  the  ordinary'  schoolmaster.  The  parent, 
the  church,  the  individual's  self,  the  spirit  of  the  age  as 
shown  in  general  society  and  in  literature,— combine  to 
ensure  the  presence  or  the  absence  of  the  Religious  tone 
of  mind  ;  the  national  school  counts  for  the  smallest 
item  in  the  total. 

People  might  well  be  satisfied,  as  far  as  regards  the 
29 


424  MORAL   EDUCATION. 

school,  with  the  markedly  Theistic  and  Christian  vein  of 
all  the  Lesson-books,  and  with  the  great  susceptibility 
of  the  young  mind  to  the  explanation  of  the  world  by  a 
Personal  God.  Any  results  beyond,  should  be  souf^ht 
somewhere  else. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

ART   EDUCATION. 

On  this  subject  all  that  I  consider  necessary  is  to  define 
the  position  of  Art  teaching  in  the  scheme  of  education 
— primary  and  secondary. 

Many  allusions  have  already  been  made  to  Fine  Art. 
As  one  of  the  great  sources  of  pleasure,  it  may  be  made 
a  stimulus  to  study,  as  to  any  other  form  of  effort.  If 
education  is  viewed  as  a  means  of  human  happiness 
it  should  not  omit  Art  accomplishments.  Moreover, 
among  the  recognized  branches  of  common  education,  are 
Drawing,  Music,  Elocution,  Good  Breeding,  Literature, 
— all  coming  within  the  scope  of  Fine  Art.  Once  more, 
the  environment  of  the  school  is  sought  to  be  rendered 
artistic. 

If  we  are  asked — Is  there  any  Method  of  Art  teach- 
ing } — the  answer  is  '  Yes.'  Nevertheless,  the  subtleties 
are  so  great,  that  I  shall  have  to  be  content  with  merely 
indicatmg  what  these  consist  in. 

The  A  rtist  proper — the  painter,  musician,  sculptor — 
has  a  mechanical  and  an  intellectual  education  to  go 
through,  whose  rationale  is  easy  enough.  To  be  a  mu- 
sical performer,  the  voice  (or  the  hand)  and  the  ear 
are  trained  by  practice  or  exercise,  and  the  general  con- 
ditions of  success  are  the  same  as  in  any  other  skilled 
exertion  :  natural    retentiveness,  the   organ    good,    the 


426  ART   EDUCATION. 

sense  delicate,  iteration  or  practice,  and,  last  not  least, 
concentration  induced  by  pleasurable  emotion,  or  interest 
in  the  work.  The  feeling  is  the  only  speciality  in  Art. 
By  the  names — Taste,  Esthetic  or  Art  sensibility,  sense 
of  Beauty — we  express  a  complex  aggregate  of  human 
emotion,  which  it  is  not  easy  to  give  account  of.  Art 
cultivation  means  the  calling  forth,  intensifying,  guiding  . 
purifying,  of  this  mass  of  sensibility;  and  it  is  not  neces- 
sarily accompanied  with  the  power  of  Art  execution.  The 
taste  for  music  may  exist  without  the  ability  to  per- 
form ;  the  enjoyment  of  pictures  does  not  suppose  the 
power  of  drawing  or  painting. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  one  way  of  attaining 
to  Art-Emotion,  is  to  become  an  artist.  By  being 
taught  to  sing,  or  to  play  on  an  instrument,  we  become 
versed  in  a  wide  range  of  musical  compositions,  and 
acquire  or  strengthen  the  taste  for  music.  Certain  ori- 
ginal endowments  are  pre-supposed  ;  we  must  have  the 
natural  enjoyment  of  sweet  sounds,  a  certain  discrimina- 
tion of  tones,  the  feeling  for  concords,  and  perhaps  some 
other  abstruse  sensibilities.  These  give  us  a  pleasure 
in  music  from  the  beginning  ;  our  musical  education 
adds  to,  and  refines  upon,  the  primary  satisfaction.  An 
exact  parallel  could  be  given  from  Drawing. 

But  a  wider  view  must  be  taken  of  the  cultivation 
of  the  feeling  for  Art  ;  only  a  few  are  artists,  the  rest 
enjoy  the  works  produced  by  these.  It  is  considered 
desirable  that  people  generally  should  not  merely  have 
access  to  performances  and  treasures  of  Art,  but  should 
be  taught,  or  in  some  way  assisted,  to  reap  the  full 
pleasure  that  these  are  fitted  to  afford. 

To  illustrate  the  supposed  culture  of  aesthetic  sonti* 


CULTURE  OF  TASTE  EXEMPLIFIED.  A-7 

ment,  I  will  take  the  example  of  the  taste  for  Lancl« 
scape.  We  have  here  a  good  representative  of  the  many 
different  tributaries  to  the  stream  of  Art  enjoyment. 
We  must  begin  with  certain  primary  sensibilities  of 
the  senses,  the  eye  more  especially.  The  colour  sense, 
which  is  a  very  variable  thing,  and  sometimes  very 
defective,  must  manifestly  exist  in  a  fair,  if  not  full, 
measure.  The  primary  sensibilities  to  form,  which  arc 
not  so  easy  to  isolate,  must  also  be  assumed.  The 
emotional  susceptibility  to  tenderness,  as  a  chief  source 
of  the  associations  of  landscape,  must  not  be  wanting. 
Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  the  malevolent  sentiment 
also  must  be  present,  as  a  basis  for  the  sublime ;  al- 
though there  is  no  need  for  calling  the  emotion  into 
undue  exercise  in  its  actual  workings.  These  requisites 
of  sensation  and  emotion  belong  to  every  art ;  their 
natural  amount,  in  all  probability,  cannot  be  greatly 
increased ;  the  stress  of  cultivation  must  take  some 
different  course. 

Our  next  step,  in  the  case  supposed,  must  obviously 
be  to  see  landscapes ;  and  to  see  them  in  a  leisurely, 
deliberate  manner,  so  as  to  examine  their  features  with 
care.  Under  this  survey,  the  senses  are  gratified,  the 
emotional  suggestiveness  is  brought  out,  and  the  collec- 
tive interest  is  felt.  The  sight  of  one  landscape  makes 
us  disposed  to  go  in  search  of  others. 

The  result  is  greatly  dependent  on  two  circuni 
stances.  One  is  a  happy  frame  of  mind  ;  as  when  we 
are  introduced  to  landscape  glories,  in  the  freshness  of 
youth,  and  in  the  exhilaration  of  holidays.  This  is  one 
of  the  occasions  of  laying  up  a  store  for  the  future, 
by  associations  with  pleasurable  feeling.     To  come  into 


428  ART   EDUCATION. 

contact  with  scenes  of  beauty,  in  moments  otherwise 
rendered  happy,  is  both  present  and  future  bliss. 

The  second  favourable  circumstance  is  the  guidance 
of  some  skilled  monitor.  In  the  presence  of  a  beautiful 
scene,  or  a  work  of  art,  we  derive  great  benefit  from 
being  shown  where  and  how  to  direct  our  attention.  We 
may  chance  to  be  misled,  but  it  is  assumed  that  we  can 
find  some  one  more  advanced  than  ourselves  in  the  con- 
ditions that  regulate  aesthetic  pleasure.  This  is  the  role 
of  the  Art  instructor  for  all. 

"  It  ought  to  be  superfluous  to  remark  that  the  land- 
scape taste  grows  exactly  with  the  devotion  that  we 
give  to  it.  An  occasional  weary  moment  beguiled,  a  tran- 
sient glance  on  the  road  to  business,  will  not  carry  for- 
ward any  taste,  any  rich  emotional  response  to  nature 
or  art.  We  must  surrender  some  portion  of  our  vital 
energy  to  the  accumulating  of  those  innumerable  little 
rills  of  pleasure  that  flow  out  in  the  presence  of  natural 
grandeur,  or  artistic  adornment. 

So  far  I  have  kept  in  view  the  main  chance,  how  to 
aggrandize  natural  susceptibility  to  art  pleasure,  and  so 
to  create  an  enduring  fund  of  delight.  This  is  taste  in 
the  best,  although  not  in  the  only,  sense  of  the  word. 
The  cultivation  of  taste  further  implies  discrimination 
and  judgment  of  effects ;  it  warns  us  against  being 
pleased  with  certain  things,  on  the  ground  that  to  be  so 
pleased  either  interferes  with  the  highest  enjoyment  of 
art  on  the  whole,  or  brings  us  into  collision  with  some  of 
the  other  interests  of  life — as  truth,  utility,  morality — 
which  are  liable  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  ends  of  art.  This 
branch  of  aesthetics,  even  more  than  the  other,  needs  a 
oionitor ;  and  taking  the  two  together,  we  can  see  the 


POETRY.  429 

scope  that  there  is  for  Art  teaching  to  the  general  com- 
munity. 

A  short  application  to  the  chief  branches  of  Art 
study,  will  complete  the  design  of  this  chapter. 

Of  Music  there  is  nothing  further  to  be  said.  It 
is  the  art  most  universally  cultivated  by  the  mass  of 
people  ;  and  this  cultivation  is  followed  by  the  taste. 
Without  being  able  to  perform,  one  may  acquire  the 
taste  by  listening  to  performances,  under  the  favourable 
conditions  above  laid  down. 

Elocution  is  hardly  yet  begun  to  be  thought  of 
as  a  refining  social  pleasure.  I  shall  allude  to  it  again 
presently. 

The  group  of  Arts  addressed  to  the  eye — Painting, 
Design,  Sculpture,  Architecture — are  the  enjoyment  of 
many  ;  but  their  production  is  confined  to  a  few.  The 
culture  of  Taste  in  them  has,  therefore,  to  be  carried  on 
by  the  study  of  the  works.  The  enjoyment  increases  in 
the  manner  already  illustrated ;  while  the  discriminative 
taste  may  want  a  great  deal  of  instruction.  To  reconcile 
all  the  elements  in  a  picture,  or  a  building,  needs  many 
adjustments  and  restraints  that  are  not  understood  by 
mere  natural  sense,  however  acute. 

The  Poetic  art  raises  all  the  questions  of  art  culture, 
and  on  it  we  may  expend  the  remainder  of  our  observa- 
tions. As  being  the  union  of  language  with  pictures  0/ 
nature  and  life,  it  exceeds  the  other  arts  in  the  number 
of  elements  to  be  reconciled.  It  affects  a  greater  surface 
of  sense  and  emotion  than  either  music  (by  itself)  01 
painting. 

The  poetic  culture  is  involved  in  the  course  of  Lite- 
rature, beginning  with  the  mother  tongue.     The  refine- 


430  ART   EDUCATION. 

ments  of  poetry  are  connected  with  many  kinds  of  pure 
composition.  Every  literary  teacher  contributes  to  the 
poetic  taste,  both  as  enjoyment  and  as  discrimination. 
By  reading  poets  and  critics,  under  favourable  aus- 
pices, we  are  strengthened  and  confirmed  in  the  same 
gifts. 

The  susceptibility  to  poetry  includes  the  ear,  the 
eye,  the  emotional  nature,  a  pretty  wide  experience  of 
life,  and  no  little  book  knowledge.  The  increasing 
compass  of  allusions  in  modern  poetry  makes  it  less 
and  less  the  recreation  of  the  mass  of  people :  but  there 
is  always  enough  in  the  generality  of  poets  to  touch  the 
chords  of  average  human  nature. 

The  Ideal  character  of  Poetry  was  unavoidably 
touched  in  connection  with  moral  teaching.  Herein  lies 
both  its  strength  and  its  weakness.  To  idealize  is  to 
transcend  reality  or  fact,  and  bring  about  a  collision 
between  ourselves  and  the  world.  The  intense  pleasure 
of  the  ideal  is  what  redeems  the  discrepancy.  The 
fine  frenzy,  the  ecstasy,  of  the  poet's  world,  is  the  inspi- 
ration to  virtue,  by  being  the  spiritual  reward  of  self- 
denial.  It  performs  the  part  assigned  to  religion.  Hence 
poets  assume  to  themselves  the  vocation  of  being  the 
best  teachers  of  virtue  ;  Horace  testifies  thus  for  Homer, 
and  Milton  for  the  Greek  tragedians.  The  question 
recurs — By  what  means  do  they  produce  their  magical 
effects,  and  are  these  means  in  themselves  always 
favourable  to  virtue .-'  The  poet  must  make  himself 
agreeable  to  the  multitude,  and  this  demands  conces- 
sions to  human  weakness  ;  above  all  things,  it  needs 
indulgences,  illusions,  and  liberal  promises.  But  there  is 
much  else  in  a  true  poem  ;  and  poetic,  taste  and  culture 


MORAL   INFLUENCE   OF   FICTION.  431 

consists  in  finding  pleasure  apart  from  the  exaggerations 
that  come  home  to  the  least  cultivated. 

It  needs  little  examination  to  discover  that  the 
strongest  stimulant  of  Art  productions  is  in  the  direc- 
tion of  illimitable  appetite  and  desire — the  passions  of 
love,  malevolence,  ambition,  sensuality.  These  must  be 
stirred  more  or  less  to  make  the  interest  of  a  poem  or 
a  picture.  The  highest  Art  and  the  highest  Art  edu- 
cation check  and  control  the  outgoings  of  the  fiery  pas- 
sions ;  hold  in  subjection  the  demons  that  are  unavoidably 
raised.  No  greater  triumph  can  be  effected  by  an  Artist 
or  by  an  education  in  Art. 

The  two  developments  of  poetry  that  have  brought 
into  greater  prominence  both  its  lights  and  its  shadows 
are  Fiction  or  Romance,  and  the  Drama.  Both  have 
been  highly  popular ;  yet  both  have  been  inveighed 
against  as  unfavourable  to  morality.  Although,  of  the 
two,  dramatic  representation  is  most  attacked,  there  is 
but  one  question  between  them. 

Fiction  names  a  wide  class ;  and  the  difference  be- 
tween the  best  and  the  worst  examples  is  the  whole 
difference  between  good  and  evil — virtue  and  vice. 
This,  however,  settles  nothing.  The  crucial  instances 
are  such  fictions  as  are  most  disseminated  and  most 
popular  ;  that  are  imbibed  by  the  ordinary  mind  without 
misgivings.  Now,  if  we  take  the  approved  romances  of 
the  present  day,  we  find  much  of  the  highest  art,  together 
with  an  essential  tincture  of  indulgence  in  sentiment 
or  ideality.  It  depends  on  the  reader,  whether  the 
high  art  or  the  grosser  element  is  most  influential.  The 
proper  aim  of  Art  education  and  culture  is  to  enable 


432  ART   EDUCATION. 

US  to  feel  these  higher  artistic  effects,  at  the  least  possible 
expenditure  of  gross  and  grovelling  passion.  Such  an 
education  as  this  would  be  worthy  of  being  promoted 
by  all  the  means  at  our  disposal. 

The  indulgence  in  the  pleasures  of  Fiction  is  met 
by  one  very  intelligible  regulation  ;  namely,  putting  it 
on  the  level  of  Stimulants,  to  be  used  with  moderation. 
The  late  Andrew  Combe  contended  for  a  moderate  use 
of  Fiction.  We  can  fall  back  upon  the  sober  realities 
of  life  without  revulsion,  after  a  sparing  allowance  of 
Ideality,  but  not  after  excess. 

The  numerous  works  of  genius  that  take  the  form 
of  Fiction,  together  with  Poetry  in  the  more  narrow 
sense,  are  undoubtedly  an  education  in  themselves.  The 
force,  elegance,  and  affluence  of  diction  in  general,  the 
refinements  and  delicacies  of  conversational  style  in  par- 
ticular, the  pourtraying  of  character  and  the  depicting  of 
scenery  and  life,  the  wise  maxims  wittily  expressed,  not 
to  mention  the  inspiriting  ideals, — cannot  go  for  nothing 
upon  the  mind  of  the  reader.  They  are  efficacious, 
however,  just  in  proportion  to  previous  culture ;  with  a 
vast  majority  of  fiction  readers,  the  effect  is  barely  to  be 
traced  ;  these  in  their  haste  extract  only  the  plot,  senti- 
ment and  passion,  and  let  all  the  rest  escape  them.  To 
gain  the  full  impression  of  a  work  of  the  highest  genius 
demands  slow  perusal,  and  a  considerable  pause  before 
entering  on  any  other. 

It  seems  strange  that  so  rich  a  display  of  colloquial 
art  as  we  find  in  the  prose  romance  should  do  so  little 
to  refine  the  conversational  part  of  our  social  intercourse. 
Perhaps  it  does  more  than  we  are  aware  of. 

The  Drama  differs  from  Fiction  in  general  only  in 


EDUCATION    OF   THE   THEATRE.  433 

the  incidents  of  theatrical  representation.  The  most 
obvious  consequence  of  this  is  increased  impressiveness ; 
the  story,  sentiment  or  passion  of  the  piece,  whatever  it 
13,  is  not  changed  in  cliaracter,  but  made  far  more  strik- 
in  T :  enhancing  the  gc/odness  or  the  badness  as  the  case 
may  be.  Of  course,  a  play  is  in  every  way  more  exciting 
than  a  novel,  and,  on  Combe's  rule  of  Temperance, 
should  be  less  indulged  in ;  but  the  tendency  of  the 
composition  remains  the  same.  If  our  education  pre- 
pares us  to  enter  into  the  higher  elements,  we  suffer  the 
less  from  any  admixture  of  the  grosser  interest 

There  is  one,  and  only  one,  educating  influence 
peculiar  to  the  Theatre,  as  such,  and  that  is  the  art  of 
elocution  and  demeanour ;  this  too  being  one  of  the 
refinements  of  social  life  wherein  our  population  is 
specially  backward.  We  see  on  the  stage  the  most 
consummate  examples  of  manner  and  address  in  various 
situations,  slightly  exaggerated  from  the  necessities  of 
distant  effect,  but  surpassing  all,  except  the  rarest, 
instances  in  common  life.  Virtue  or  vice  may  be  found 
alike  on  and  off  the  stage ;  but  elocution  and  gesture 
can  be  learnt  in  perfection  there  and  there  alone. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
PROPORTIONS. 

Next  to  confusion,  there  cannot  be  a  greater  evil  than 
disproportion.  A  curriculum  might  be  so  arranged  that, 
while  each  topic  should  be  useful  in  itself,  the  whole 
would  be  a  failure.  It  is  needless  to  imagine  absurd 
extremes ;  we  shall  be  able  to  produce  actual  cases 
sufficiently  glaring. 

My  first  instance  is  the  Cambridge  system  of  Ma- 
thematical wranglerships.  A  high  wrangler  is  a  man 
professionally  fitted  for  some  special  post  involving 
Mathematics  ;  but,  if  he  turns  to  one  of  the  other  pro- 
fessions— Law,  Medicine,  the  Church,  the  Public  Ser- 
vice, he  has  incurred  an  irremediable  waste  of  human 
strength. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  the  stinmlants  brought 
to  bear  upon  minute  Classical  scholarship.  Unless  for  a 
professional  career  as  a  classical  teacher  or  scholar,  there 
is  a  gross  disproportion  here  also ;  waiving  altogether 
the  more  general  question  of  classical  study. 

Natural  History  has  not  been  long  enough  in  use  in 
the  public  seminaries  to  be  abused  in  the  same  way  as 
these  two  long-standing  branches.  But,  considering 
that  the  Natural  History  Sciences  are  characterized  by 
an  interminable  host  of  particulars,  nothing   is   easier 


MATIIEiMATICS. — LANGUAGES.  435 

than  to  waste  time  and  strength  over  these,  and  to  ex- 
clude the  other  studies  that  are  co-essential  for  a  broad 
and  hberal  culture  of  the  mind. 

The  error  of  the  Cambridge  wranglers  may  of  course 
be  repeated  in  every  one  of  the  primary  sciences,  as 
Experimental  Physics,  Chemistry,  Physiology,  Psycho- 
logy. Any  special  encouragement  given  to  one,  co-, 
operating  with  an  individual  preference,  leads  to  the 
neglect  of  the  rest,  as  well  as  the  loss  of  the  lights  that 
they  mutually  throw  upon  one  another.  A  purely  psy- 
chological or  metaphysical  education  might  be  the  worst 
case  of  any ;  in  no  department  is  it  more  necessary  to 
possess  the  advantages  of  a  training  in  all  the  scientific 
methods — Deduction,  Induction,  Classification.  Logic, 
which  is  usually  coupled  with  Metaphysics,  is  not  enough 
of  itself. 

It  is  in  Languages  that  disproportion,  as  well  as 
other  mistakes,  may  be  most  readily  exemplified.  The 
addition  to  the  Mother  Tongue  of  one  foreign  language, 
living  or  dead,  is  a  very  large  expenditure  of  mental 
force,  and  ought  not  to  be  entered  on  without  due  cal- 
culation of  probable  fruits.  What  then  shall  we  say  to 
the  multiplication  of  languages — to  the  indiscriminate 
imposition  of  two,  three,  or  four,  upon  the  mass  of  youtns 
preparing  for  hard  professional  life  ?  Very  few  men  can 
by  any  possibility  turn  to  account  two  ancient  and  four 
modern  languages.  Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis,  the 
historian  Grote,  and  those  similarly  devoted  to  literary 
and  historical  research,  could  make  actual  use  of  Greek, 
Latin,  French,  German,  and  Italian  ;  but  these  are  rare 
exceptions. 

In  the  very  limited  education  of  young  girls,  it  is 


436  PROPORTIONS. 

thought  necessary  to  include  both  the  French  and  Ger- 
man languages,  and  sometimes  also  Italian.  No  con- 
sideration is  given  to  the  likelihood  of  their  ever  taking 
any  interest  in  the  matter  conveyed  in  those  languages, 
whether  as  information  or  as  polite  letters.  Excepting 
the  conversational  employment  of  them,  in  an  occasional 
,  visit  to  the  Continent,  for  which  French  alone  is  quite 
sufficient,  the  time  spent  on  these  languages  seems,  for 
the  large  majority,  quite  thrown  away. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  disproportional  share 
of  attention  bestowed  upon  the  purely  antiquarian  or 
archaic  part  of  our  own  language.  Old  English  is 
scarcely  of  the  smallest  value  for  the  actual  use  of  the 
language,  and  is  not  vefy  generally  interesting  as  an 
affair  of  curiosity.  The  proper  place  of  Anglo-Saxon 
and  early  English  seems  to  be  among  optional  side- 
studies  in  the  higher  curriculum,  and  not  at  all  in  the 
first  stages  of  Grammar  and  Composition. 

There  is  a  due  proportion  to  be  observed  at  every 
stage  between  information  and  language — between 
thought  and  expression.  The  excess  of  language  chiefly 
attaches  to  the  addition  of  too  many  foreign  languages ; 
we  have  yet  to  see,  what  no  doubt  we  shall  see,  a  dis- 
proportionate attention  to  the  arts  of  expression  in  the 
vernacular. 

In  primary  education,  errors  of  disproportion  are 
common,  but  not  so  marked  and  constant  as  in  the 
higher  curriculum.  The  bias  of  the  individual  teacher 
leads  to  inequalities  that  cannot  be  controlled.  More- 
over, sufficient  attention  has  not  yet  been  paid  to  the 
best  selection  and  adjustment  of  topics  for  the  needs  oi 


PRIMARY   EDUCATION.  437 

the  pupils  in  after  life.  The  primary  school  begins  and 
ends  the  education  of  the  masses  ;  it  begins  the  educa- 
tion of  a  portion  of  those  that  proceed  to  the  secondary 
schools.  The  mixture  of  these  two  classes  is  at  present 
perplexing,  owing  to  the  requirement  of  the  dead  lan- 
guages in  the  higher  education.  On  an  amended  curricu- 
lum, with  knowledge  and  literary  training  as  the  staple, 
there  might  be  an  entire  harmony  between  the  primary 
and  the  secondary  teaching ;  the  course  would  be  homoge- 
neous throughout.  The  last  years  of  the  primary  school- 
ing, say  from  ten  to  thirteen,  would  contain  systematic 
courses  of  physical  and  social  science,  with  English 
composition  and  literature ;  to  continue  which  would 
be  the  main  task  of  the  three  or  four  years  making  up 
the  secondary  course.  The  sequence  or  progression  of 
topics  would  be  such  that,  at  whatever  point  the  pupil 
left  school,  the  knowledge  gained  would  all  be  available 
for  use ;  there  would  be  no  wasted  beginnings.  Each 
year"  of  the  course  might  be  made  to  yield  the  best  crop 
that  the  soil  will  furnish.  The  Primary  Sciences  should 
be  the  goal  of  the  knowledge  course.  The  occupation 
with  such  tertiary  products  as  geography  and  history, 
should  hot  be  continued  longer  than  is  requisite  to 
prepare  for  the  secondary  strata  of  the  Natural  History 
subjects,  and  the  generalized  Historical  or  Social  science; 
and  these  in  turn  should  give  place  as  soon  as  possible 
to  Mathematics,  Physics,  Chemistry,  &c.,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, they  should  be  resumed  in  their  most  consummate 
form,  by  the  side  of  the  primary  or  mother  sciences. 

There  can  thus  be  no  other  curricular  arrangement, 
even  for  the  labouring  population,  than  to  give  them  as 
much  methodized    knowledge  of  the  physical  and  the 


43^  PROPORTIONS. 

moral  world,  and  as  much  literary  training  as  theii  time 
will  allow.  About  two-thirds  of  the  day,  as  a  rule, 
might  be  given  to  Knowledge,  and  one-third  to  Litera- 
ture ;  music,  drill,  and  gymnastics  being  counted  apart 
from  both.  It  seems  vain  to  discuss  any  more  special 
adaptation  to  the  supposed  exigencies  of  the  general 
mass  of  the  people. 


APPENDIX. 


FURTHER  EXAMPLES   OF    THE   OBJECT  LESSON. 

To  illustrate  still  further  the  forms,  conditions,  and  limitations 
of  the  Object  Lesson,  I  will  refer  to  some  examples  as  set  forth 
in  works  on  Teaching.  Numerous  attempts  have  been  made 
to  give  a  fixed  and  methodical  character  to  the  lesson,  for  the 
guidance  of  young  teachers. 

Almost  enough  was  said  in  the  text  regarding  the  Lessons 
on  the  Natural  History  type,  both  particular  and  general.  The 
conditions  in  these  are  few  and  intelligible.  The  teacher's 
difficulties  culminate  in  the  third  kind  of  Lesson — Causation, 
which  carries  us  into  one  or  othei  of  the  primary  sciences. 
Cause  and  effect  is  at  once  the  simplest  and  most  impressive 
experience,  and  the  most  abstruse  and  distasteful.  Nothing 
yields  a  greater  charm  to  the  child  than  firing  off  gunpowder ; 
but,  to  bring  anyone  to  the  point  of  fully  explaining  the  fact, 
needs  a  long  course  of  very  dry  instruction.  Causation  cannot 
be  excluded  even  from  the  lessons  of  the  Natural  History 
kind ;  a  lesson  on  coal  or  charcoal  must  say  something  as  to 
its  combustion,  but  it  does  not  (if  properly  managed)  enter  upon 
the  theory  of  combustion  in  Chemistry.  A  lesson  on  Iron  would, 
probably,  state  its  melting  under  a  high  heat,  but  would  not 
descant  upon  the  laws  of  heat  in  general  One  of  the  leading 
precautions  regarding  the  Natural  History  Lessons  is,  to  avoid 


440  APPENDIX. 

being  led  away  to  the  lessons  of  Primary  Science.  It  is  in 
these  last  that  the  dangers  and  difficulties  are  of  the  subtlest 
kind,  as  has  been  partly  illustrated  in  the  text.  Because  we 
are  not  bound  to  give  the  full  explanation  of  a  fact — which  ex- 
planation supposes  a  perfectly  arranged  sequence  of  topics,  as 
in  a  course  of  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  or  Physiology — ■ 
we  are  apt  to  suppose  that  sequence  does  not  need  to  be  con  • 
sidered  at  all.  We  further  suppose  that  it  signifies  little  how 
many  different  lines  of  causation  we  enter  upon  in  a  single 
lesson.  Again,  there  is  a  struggle  between  the  empirical  form 
and  the  rational  explanation,  to  the  detriment  of  both.  It  is 
only  when  we  feel  that  the  rational  explanation  is  wholly  be- 
yond the  powers  of  the  pupils,  that  we  elaborate  an  empirical 
statement  with  due  care.  The  following  is  an  example  of  a 
careful  empirical  statement,  in  dealing  with  the  topic  of  Energy 
or  Work,  as  measured  by  the  raising  of  weights.  Its  object  is 
to  express  the  relation  of  velocity  to  height,  which  the  pupil  is 
supposed  not  to  be  capable  of  understanding  on  mechanical 
principles : — *  A  body  shot  upwards  with  a  double  velocity  will 
mount  not  twice  but  four  times  as  high—  a  body  with  a  triple 
velocity  not  thrice  but  nine  times  as  high.'  Again,  *  if  cannon 
balls  are  directed  at  a  compact  mass  of  wooden  planks,  a  ball 
with  a  double  velocity  will  pierce  four  times  as  many  planks,  a 
ball  with  triple  velocity  nine  times  as  many.'  The  more  con- 
scious we  are  that  we  cannot  give  the  scientific  reasons,  the 
more  do  we  aim  at  a  precise  statement  of  the  empirical  fact ; 
and  facts  so  given  are  perhaps  the  very  best  scientific  state- 
ments that  can  be  deposited  in  the  mind  at  an  early  age.  The 
rule  in  Rhetoric,  of  separating,  in  statement,  a  fact  from  the 
reason  of  the  fact,  is  seldom  thoroughly  complied  with  when  we 
aim  at  giving  both. 

For  further  illustration,  I  select  the  following  example  given 
by  an  able  writer  on  Education.  The  Object  adduced  is  the 
Teapot  Spout  and  Lid. 

'  I.  The  Spout.     Bring  out  that  its  top  is  higher  than  the 


EXAMPLES   OF   THE   OBJECT   LESSON.  44I 

level  of  the  teapot.  What  is  that  for?  Suppose  one  to  be 
lower,  say  half  as  high.  What  would  happen  when  water  was 
poured  in  ?  Give  facts  and  illustrations  so  as  to  educe  and 
establish  the  following  points : — 

*  I.  Fluids  easily  yield  to  pressure. 

*  2.  Pressure  is  conveyed  to  them  in  all  directions. 

*  3.  So  long  as  there  is  no  pressure  in  the  spout  to  out- 
balance it  the  fluid  must  rise. 

'  4.  Infer  that  the  water  will  rise  to  the  same  height  in  the 
spout  as  it  is  in  the  teapot.  Illustrate  also  by  syphon,  and 
by  pipes  conveying  water  from  reservoirs  to  houses.'  So 
much  for  the  spout.  The  teacher  is  to  expand  these  hints  as 
directed. 

This  is  a  lesson  in  the  Primary  Sciences,  and  brings  out 
laws  of  Cause  and  Effect.  As  I  have  often  urged,  the  teacher 
must  settle  in  his  mind  whether  it  is  to  be  an  empirical  or  a 
reasoned  lesson,  or  how  far  rational  explanations  can  be  canied 
under  the  circumstances ;  that  is  to  say,  among  other  things, 
what  has  been  the  preparation  by  means  of  previous  lessons  or 
knowledge  anyhow  obtained.  Without  being  aware  of  these 
points,  we  cannot  judge  altogether  of  the  propriety  or  impro- 
priety of  the  lesson.  In  the  Author's  series  there  is  no  othei 
lesson  that  obviously  leads  up  to  it ;  although  in  the  comsc 
of  explaining  a  great  variety  of  familiar  things,  a  teacher  may 
be  conscious  that  he  has  paved  the  way  for  what  he  now 
proposes  to  do.  On  the  face  of  the  scheme,  we  may  say  that 
too  much  appears  to  be  undertaken  for  one  lesson,  and  that, 
for  so  great  a  lesson,  the  start  from  a  specified  ofy'ecf  is  illusory. 
The  theme  of  the  lesson  is  the  first  chapter  in  the  regular  course 
of  Hydrostatics,  embracing  the  fac|  of  fluidity  under  pressure, 
with  its  many  consequences  ;  and  to  gi\  e  such  a  lesson  effec- 
tively, the  teacher  would  need  to  have  on  his  table  a  great 
many  objects,  without  distinguishing  any  one  more  than  the 
others.  The  title  should  at  once  suggest  the  scope  of  the 
lesson  :  '  About  Water  and  other  Liquids  and  the  way  that  they 
rise  to  their  level.'    In  Balfour  Stewart's  Science  Primer,  we  sec 


442  APPENDIX. 

exemplified  the  mode  of  conducting  such  a  lesson  by  the  help 
of  well-chosen  experiments,  wherein  simplification  is  carried 
much  further  than  it  could  be  by  any  teacher  acting  on  these 
hints  ;  there  being,  moreover,  the  advantage  of  numerous  pre- 
vious lessons  given  in  a  systematic  course  of  Natural  Philo- 
sophy. Many  lessons  on  the  mechanics  of  motion  and  gravity, 
with  reference  to  solid  bodies,  should  precede  such  a  lesson  on 
liquid  bodies.  It  is  a  lesson  very  ill  suited  for  isolation,  even  on 
the  most  rigid  empirical  plan.  Children  might  be  previously  made 
to  understand  what  is  meant  by '  level,'  but  this  needs  a  distinct 
effect  at  explanation.  The  teapot  and  syph''>n  lesson  might  be 
given  empirically  by  saying  that  the  water  in  the  teapot,  or 
syphon,  or  any  similar  thing,  rises  to  the  same  height  in  both 
channels ;  this  involves  only  easy  notions.  All  explanation  ori 
first  principles  should  be  forborne,  as  clearly  beyond  the  capa- 
city of  the  pupils  supposed  to  be  addressed.  They  might  be 
made  to  grasp  the  fact^  and  then  be  shown  the  consequences 
of  pouring  some  more  liquid  into  the  mouth  of  the  teapot,  and 
at  one  leg  of  the  syphon  (a  glass  syphon  with  the  bend  down- 
wards is  the  better  instrument) ;  the  rise  in  the  other  leg  is  then 
seen,  until  the  same  height  is  reached  in  both.  The  illustra- 
tion is  varied  and  extended,  when  the  syphon  has  a  long  leg 
and  a  short ;  the  water  poured  in  at  the  long  leg  flows  out  at 
the  other,  which  no  longer  holds  it  at  the  proper  height.  The 
pouring  out  from  the  teapot,  by  lowering  the  spout,  is  then 
adduced  as  the  same  fact.  This  is  a  good  example  of  an 
empirical  object  lesson  on  an  interesting  and  recurring  phe- 
nomenon ;  while  at  the  stage  when  it  is  first  given,  the  im- 
pression wculd  only  be  spoiled  by  converting  it  into  a  reasoned 
truth,  based  upon  the  fundamental  laws  of  motion,  gravity 
and  fluidity. 

The  illustration  with  the  teapot  and  syphon  would  be 
enough  for  one  lesson.  A  further  lesson  might  overtake  the 
case  of  pouring  Avater  at  one  end  of  a  trough  to  see  it  flowing 
to  the  other  end,  until  the  surface  came  to  rest ;  which  might 
be  made  to  appear  an  example  of  the  same  principle  of  equal 


EXAMPLES   OF   THE   OBJECT   LESSON.  443 

height ;  and  from  this  might  be  derived  the  meaning  of  the 
word  *  level;'  the  statement  being  now  varied  by  saying  that 
water  and  liquids  seek  or  find  their  level,  or  do  not  rest  till 
they  are  level.  Abstaining  in  the  most  careful  manner  from 
going  back  to  the  deductive  explanation,  as  only  competent  to 
1  chiss  in  Natural  Philosophy,  the  teacher  might  expatiate  upon 
the  numerous  consequences  of  the  law  in  the  flow  of  rivers,  the 
tides,  and  many  other  facts.  Probably  if  the  mass  of  students 
of  Natural  Philosophy  were  tested,  few  could  express  strictly 
the  deduction  of  the  law  from  the  fundamental  laws;  they 
have,  however,  been  taught  to  express  and  understand  it  in  its 
empirical  (in  strict  Logic,  its  derivative)  character;  and  only 
to  this  extent  can  it  be  communicated  at  an  earlier  stage  of 
instruction. 

I  now  quote  from  the  second  part  of  the  lesson  on  the 
Teapot. 

*  II.  Hole  in  the  Lid.  i.  What  is  a  hole  placed  there  for  ? 
Perhaps  a  lad  will  say,  to  let  steam  escape.  Elicit  that  escape 
of  steam  would  be  escape  of  heat.  What  would  result  ?  Is 
that  desirable? 

*  2.  Refer  to  boy's  sucker.  How  is  it  that  the  stone  sticks 
to  it  ?  Give  experiments  to  show  the  pressure  of  the  air.  Infer 
that  there  is  pressure  of  air  in  the  spout.  What  would  be  its 
effect?  &c. 

*  3.  Put  two  test  questions.  As  there  is  a  pressure  through 
the  hole  in  the  lid,  how  is  it  that  the  water  does  not  rise  in  the 
spout  and  overflow?  The  pressure  in  the  spout  balances  it. 
When  the  teapot  is  held  so  that  the  tea  runs  out,  what  forces 
are  acting  on  the  spout?  Two, — the  pressure  of  the  air 
through  the  hole,  and  the  weight  of  the  air.' 

Taken  by  itself,  this  lesson  is  open  to  the  same  criticisms  as 
the  previous  one.  The  preparations  for  it  should  be  distinctly 
conceived ;  the  limits  to  rational  explanation  ought  also  to  be 
conceived,  and  the  empirical  character  assumed  accordingly. 
Further,  the  subject  should  be  propounded  in  its  real  character 
as  a  lesson  on  the  Pressure  of  the  Air ;  and  provision  should 


444  APPENDIX. 

be  made  for  exemplifying  it  upon  the  most  suitable  apparatus. 
To  connect  it  with  a  teapot  is  pure  irrelevance.  Indeed,  it  is 
something  worse.  For  the  next  remark  to  be  made  is,  that  the 
two  great  subjects  here  associated  with  the  teapot  should  not  be 
broached  in  the  same  day,  or  even  in  the  same  month.  A  great 
many  lessons  on  liquids  ought  to  be  given,  before  air  is  men- 
tioned at  all ;  and  when  this  is  entered  upon,  no  one  object  is  fit 
to  be  put  forward  as  the  sole  or  even  the  principal  vehicle  of  the 
information.  The  table  needs  to  be  covered  with  instruments ; 
the  line  of  approaches  needs  to  be  carefully  chalked  out ;  a 
series  of  at  least  a  dozen  lessons  must  be  pre-arranged.  With 
all  this,  the  teaching  at  its  best  can  end  only  in  an  empiricism  : 
for  if  the  pupils  are  not  to  be  trusted  to  educe  the  rise  of 
liquids  from  Gravity  and  Liquidity,  still  less  are  they  qualified 
to  demonstrate  the  propositions  of  Aerostatics.  But  just  as 
the  liquid  lesson  culminated  in  an  intelligible  empiricism,  from 
which  many  interesting  natural  facts  could  be  shown  to  result, 
so  it  might  be  with  the  air;  but  not  so  easily.  The  unseen  cha- 
racter of  the  agent  at  work  makes  an  enormous  difference.  Pre- 
]mring  the  way  by  enunciating  the  mechanical  properties  of  the 
air,  so  as  to  lead  up  to  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  fact 
that  it  has  weight,  and  presses  upon  every  surface  at  the  stated 
rate  of  15  lbs.  on  the  inch,  what  we  aim  at  is  to  show  what 
happens  when  the  air  is  removed  from  any  surface.  Experi- 
mental illustrations  would  have  to  be  adduced,  as  set  forth  in 
the  Science  Primtrs,  and  the  empiricism  distinctly  stated  (with 
no  attempt  to  mount  to  the  final  reasoned  explanation)  and 
carefully  iterated.  Many  lessons  would  be  required ;  but  in 
the  end,  the  explanation  of  numerous  interesting  facts  migli! 
be  achieved. 


PASSING  EXPLANATIONS  OF  TERMS.  445 


PASSING  EXPLANATIONS  OF  TERMS. 

One  of  the  most  delicate  parts  of  the  teachef  s  work  con- 
sists in  explaining  the  meanings  of  the  hard  words  occurring  in 
the  reading  lessons.  The  manner  of  doing  this  varies  greatly. 
A  certain  number  of  terms  may  be  seen  to  be  hopelessly  unin- 
telligible; others  would  occupy  too  much  time  to  explain,  and 
are  better  deferred  to  a  suitable  opportunity.  For  those  that 
may  be  rendered  intelligible,  we  have  to  consider  the  available 
resources  of  explanation. 

1.  The  Pestalozzi  method  of  showing  the  Objects  is  the 
best  of  all,  when  it  can  be  had.  This  method  is  so  obvious,  but 
withal  of  such  limited  application,  that  I  do  not  dwell  upon  it. 
It  is  not  so  much  adapted  to  the  school,  as  to  the  contact  with 
the  general  world,  where  the  child  is  always  encountering  new 
things,  and  wishing  to  know  their  names. 

If  a  school  happened  to  be  furnished  with  a  small  museum 
and  a  stock  of  apparatus,  for  the  higher  teaching,  there  would 
be  a  corresponding  addition  to  the  resources  for  explaining 
names  at  all  stages. 

2.  If  a  thing  that  is  already  known  or  familiar  is  brought 
forward  by  some  unfamiliar  term,  to  call  the  thing  to  mind  is 
to  explain  the  term.  This  is  exemplified  in  dealing  with  our 
learned  vocabulary.  We  are  acquainted  with  heat  and  cold, 
water,  wind,  light,  under  these  homely  terms ;  and  when  de- 
scribed in  the  more  technical  phraseology  of  the  language,  we 
have  a  means  of  explanation  in  these  familiar  names.  As  in- 
stances may  be  cited,  *  frigid  zone,'  a  '  luminous  orb,'  'auriferous 
rocks,'  '  aqueous  vapour,'  *  subterranean.' 

This  situation  is  both  the  facility  and  the  snare  of  our  wotd 
explanations,  whether  in  letters  or  in  dictionaries.  The  defining 
by  synonyms  is  the  conversion  of  an  accident  into  a  prin- 
ciple. If  our  language  were  not  made  up  of  two  vocabularies, 
the  radical  futility  of  the  operation  that  underlies  the  method 


44^  APPENDIX. 

of  our  dictionaries  would  have  been  discovered  long  ago.  So 
completely  has  the  idea  of  synonymous  explanation  got  a  hold 
of  our  minds,  that  we  are  almost  as  ready  to  give  the  more 
difficult  of  the  equivalents  to  explain  the  easier,  as  the  easier 
to  explain  the  more  difficult ;  '  gravity '  for  '  weight,'  '  morose ' 
for  '  surly,'  '  circuinspection  '  for  '  care,'  '  rational '  for  *  reason- 
able.' It  is  still  less  surprising,  that  we  should  exchange  terms 
that  are  on  an  equality  of  abstruseness :  '  satisfaction  '  and 
'  gratification,'  '  decorate  '  and  '  embellish,'  '  insidious  '  and 
•treacherous,'  'proclivity'  and  'inclination,'  'simultaneous' 
and  '  contemporaneous.' 

It  is  not  enough  for  the  teacher  to  guard  against  the  error 
of  supposing  that  any  synonym  will  as  a  matter  of  course  ex- 
plain any  other.  There  is  a  further  consideration  equally 
grave.  The  words  called  synonyms  are  seldom  strictly  equiva- 
lent ;  if  they  were  so,  the  language  ought  to  be  disburdened 
of  the  superfluous  terms.  There  is  usually  a  shade  of  dif- 
ference, and  sometimes  a  very  important  distinction  in  mean- 
ing, between  so-called  synonymous  terms.  To  interpret  '  an- 
cient '  by  '  old '  would  sometimes  mislead  ;  an  ancient  nation 
and  an  old  nation,  an  ancient  philosopher  and  an  old  philo- 
sopher, are  very  far  from  the  same  meanings.  Equally  wrong 
would  be  the  employment  of  the  word  in  rendering  '  archaic ' 
and  '  antiquated.' 

3.  The  defect  in  the  bare  citation  of  a  synonym  is  remedied 
by  the  round-about  interpretation.  We  coul^  explain  '  ancient 
as  belonging  to  the  early  periods  of  human  history,  and  espe- 
cially the  period  antecedent  to  the  Christian  era.  A  lengthened 
statement  such  as  this  is  often  necessary,  and  may  be  fully 
adequate  to  the  occasion.  If  it  contains  no  words  or  references 
that  the  hearer  does  not  already  know,  and  if  it  exactly  ex- 
presses the  meaning,  it  is  a  full  and  proper  explanation.  The 
principle  implied  in  it  is  the  principle  of  proceeding  from  the 
known  to  the  unknown ;  it  assumes  that  the  thing  to  be  defined 
is  a  combination  of  elements  already  understood.  Many  seem- 
ingly hard  words  give  way  under  this  treatment  '  Amphibious 


PASSING  EXPLANATIONS   OF  TERMS.  447 

admits  of  explanation  to  a  very  juvenile  class ;  the  ideas  that 
have  to  be  brought  together,  are  each  quite  familiar.  *  Tem- 
perate' is  neither  hot  nor  cold,  something  between  the  two. 
'  Equilibrium,'  a  balance,  not  inclining  to  one  side  or  the 
other. 

When  the  pupils  comprehend  the  nature  of  some  leading 
institution,  as  the  family,  or  the  state,  they  can  be  made  to  un- 
derstand the  various  names  corresponding  to  it  in  analogous 
institutions.  Thus  mother  and  child  may  be  extended  to  the 
animals ;  the  names  for  the  sovereign  power  in  foreign  nations 
— Emperor,  Czar,  Sultan,  Khan,  President — are  explicable 
when  government  is  understood.  Not  only  so,  but  the  hearers 
can  be  made  to  comprehend  important  variations  in  the  same 
fact  or  institution.  Being  once  familiar  with  the  Church  in 
any  one  form,  they  can  understand  the  other  forms.  An 
'  orchard '  is  explicable  to  those  that  know  an  ordinary  garden. 
To  '  soar '  is  a  mode  of  flying, 

The  method  necessarily  fails  if  there  be  as  much  as  one 
unintelligible  constituent,  or  if  there  be  a  haziness  about  the 
elementary  notions  generally.  A  constructive  operation  is  suc- 
cessful according  as  each  one  of  the  elements  is  fully  grasped. 
'  Monopoly'  cannot  be  understood  without  a  considerable  hold 
of  the  ideas  of  buying  and  selling.  'Revenue'  demands  a 
large  preparation  of  political  and  other  knowledge.  '  Moral- 
ize,' occurring  in  a  lesson  in  the  third  or  fourth  standards, 
would  have  to  be  given  up  as  hopeless.  *  Civilization '  is  late 
in  being  understood;  its  explanation  belongs  to  a  connected 
view  of  social  or  historical  science. 

Many  words  have  successive  steps  of  meaning,  beginning 
with  what  is  simple  and  leading  on  to  what  is  abstruse.  A 
*  mystery '  may  mean  nothing  more  than  is  signified  by  conceal- 
ment ;  it  rises  above  this  to  what  is  in  itself  unknowable  or 
incomprehensible  ;  and  finally,  carries  a  cluster  of  emotions  of 
sublimity  and  awe.  When  big  words  are  used  for  their  easier 
meanings,  the  task  of  the  teacher  is  easy  ;  he  limits  his  expla- 
nation to  the  case.     Because  the  word  *  reason '  occurs  in  its 


448  APPENDIX. 

ordinary  sense  of  supplying  a  reason  or  argument,  we  are  not 
bound  to  deal  with  its  abstruse  signification  in  Kant's  philo- 
sophy. 

I  doubt  whether  the  teacher  is  called  upon  to  dwell  spe- 
cially upon  the  ambiguity  of  words.  Although  many  words 
have  plurality  of  meanings,  yet  in  every  good  composition,  the 
ambiguity  is  resolved  by  the  context,  so  that  the  difficulty  is  got 
over  for  the  time.  Continuous  reading  both  brings  out  am- 
biguity and  meets  it.  There  should  be  some  special  reason 
for  entering  on  the  subject,  and  it  should  be  done  upon  some 
method  ;  it  is  too  wide  for  desultory  treatment.  A  passing 
question  may  be  allowed,  after  the  pupils  have  had  opportunities 
of  encountering  some  word  in  more  than  one  acceptation,  pro- 
vided always  that  it  refers  to  subjects  within  their  grasp.  The 
word  '  post '  is  an  obvious  example.  So  '  vice,'  '  air,'  '  box,' 
'  burn.' 

4.  The  Figurative  uses  of  words  give  a  wide  scope  to  the 
teacher's  explanations.  Here  he  can  do  much  to  assist  the 
pupils,  and  can  work  in  a  definite  line  of  procedure. 

Figures  that  have  by  iteration  lost  their  figurative  character, 
and  become  the  ordinary  designations  of  things,  as  '  fortune,' 
'  spirit,'  '  meeting,'  '  court,' '  conception,'  do  not  call  for  notice. 

The  proper  Figures  are  those  where  there  is  an  apparent 
stretch  of  meaning  that  to  the  youthful  mind  needs  to  be 
accounted  for  and  justified.  A  '  wind  of  doctrine,'  a  *  sea  of 
troubles,'  *  a  surfeit  of  reading,'  *  stony  adversary,'  *  ventilate  an 
opinion,'  *  the  morning  of  life,'  *  noble  bloody  '  simplicity  of 
manners,'  have  an  effect  of  surprise  when  first  heard  ;  and  the 
curiosity  that  they  awaken  may  be  made  use  of  to  impress  the 
meaning.  This  supposes  that  the  source  of  the  figure  is  some  • 
thing  already  understood.  Far-fetched  allusions  are  to  be  ex- 
plained only  under  favourable  circumstances, 

5.  It  is  necessary  to  take  account  of  the  natural  or  spon- 
taneous process  of  ascertaining  the  meanings  of  words,  after 
possessing  a  stock  sufficient  for  understanding  the  drift  of 
ordinary  language.     This  is  by  a  kind  of  tentative  and  indue 


PASSING   EXPLANATIONS   OF   TERMS.  449 

live  process.  On  first  hearing  a  strange  word,  we  are  often 
able  to  judge  from  the  connection  what  it  is  Hkely  to  mean. 
Some  one  has  committed  a  fault,  and  has  been  severely  cen- 
sured. The  child  understands  the  meaning  of  committing  the 
fault,  and  expects  some  sort  of  penal  consequence  to  follow  ; 
it  is  not  described  as  punishment,  yet  it  is  something  approach- 
ing it.  Perhaps  it  means  '  scolded.'  This  surmise  is  all  that 
can  be  made  out  of  the  occasion.  Let  there,  however,  be 
a  second  and  a  third  repetition  of  the  word  : — *  A  writer  in 
the  newspaper  censures  the  Town  Council ; '  *  the  Council  de- 
serves praise  rather  than  censure.^  It  is  now  plain  by  an  induc- 
tion of  these  additional  instances,  that  censure  is  something 
different  from  punishment ;  it  means  something  painful  that 
we  can  inflict  even  upon  superiors,  and  the  instrumentality  is 
language. 

We  begin  early  this  operation  of  guessing  at  the  meanings 
of  words,  from  a  collation  of  different  instances,  and  carry  it 
on  to  the  last.  What  is  necessary  is  that  the  general  meaning 
of  the  situation  be  understood.  A  passage  should  be  intel- 
ligible on  the  whole ;  and  if  so,  some  advance  will  be  made  in 
divining  the  sense  of  an  outstanding  word.  In  rendering  aid 
to  the  struggling  intelligence  of  the  pupils,  the  teacher  has  to 
meet  the  case  thus  :  '  The  army  moved  forward  to  engage  the 
enemy,  and  left  its  baggage  in  the  rear  with  a  guard.'  'What 
does  baggage  mean  ? '  '  You  see  it  is  something  belonging  to 
the  army,  not  wanted  immediately  for  fighting.'  There  is  no 
better  test  of  the  general  understanding  of  a  passage,  than  the 
ability  to  guess  from  it  the  likely  meaning  of  an  unknown  word. 
We  could  not  reasonably  expect  the  teacher  to  follow  this  up 
on  the  instant  with  varied  examples  for  inductive  comparison. 
Yet  the  operation  is  quite  within  reach,  and  contains  the 
essence  of  what  is  meant  by  Induction  in  the  highest  walks  of 
science. 

6.  It  must  seem  obvious  that  very  important  leading  terms 
should  not  be  discussed  under  the  circumstances  that  we  are 


450  APPENDIX. 

now  supposing.  Such  words  as  gravity,  polarity,  \ibration, 
affinity,  reciprocity,  beauty,  diplomacy,  statute,  formality,  em- 
blem, civilization, — would  each  form  the  topic  of  an  express 
lesson,  or  else  depend  for  their  explanation  upon  a  methodical 
course  of  their  several  departments  of  knowledge.  It  may  so 
happen,  however,  that  the  purpose  of  their  employment  does 
not  involve  their  most  scientific  use,  and  that  they  can  be  ex- 
plained for  the  occasion  without  a  rigorous  definition.  ^  Staiiite 
law/  or  'according  to  the  statute^  could  be  made  sufficiently 
intelligible  for  a  passing  allusion,  although  belonging  to  the 
technicalities  of  Jurisprudence.  The  word  '  nature  '  is  one  of 
very  abstruse  signification,  but  its  passing  uses  can  often  be 
made  plain  enough.  The  teacher,  in  such  cases,  should  be 
aware  that  he  is  not  called  upon  to  expound  such  terms  accord- 
ing to  their  full  and  exact  definition.  The  lesson-books  are 
somewhat  misleading  in  this  respect.  The  authors  do  not 
consciously  make  the  distinction  between  an  explanation  for 
the  purpose  in  hand,  and  a  thorough,  complete,  and  final 
definition.  They  naturally  think  that  a  word  brought  up  in 
the  course  of  a  lesson  should  be  disposed  of  there  and  then  ; 
and  that  one  of  the  purposes  of  the  lesson  is  to  bring  forward 
important  terms  with  a  view  to  their  being  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained. This  idea,  pushed  to  the  extreme,  would  disintegrate 
the  lesson,  and  resolve  the  teaching  into  a  course  of  dictionary 
work.  The  best  and  foremost  use  of  a  reading  lesson  is  to 
impart  a  connected  meaning,  each  part  having  a  perceptiole 
bearing  upon  every  other.  The  portions  that  are  clear  should 
serve  to  illuminate  those  that  are  dark ;  and  this  operation 
should  not  be  interfered  with  by  digressions  for  exhausting 
the  meanings  of  chance  terms. 

There  is  a  class  of  words  that,  occurring  in  this  way, 
might  be  finally  disposed  of  by  one  stroke  of  explanation, 
without  interrupting  the  proper  course  of  the  lesson.  They 
are  such  as  are  not  important  enough  to  be  leading  terms 
in  science,  but  yet  contribute  to  the  expression  of  important 
facts   or  doctrines.      The    following:  are  a   few  at    random 


PASSING   EXPLANATIONS   OF   TERMS,  45 1 

'  Salvage,'  what  is  saved  from  a  wreck  ;  '  veteran,'  a  soldier 
who  has  been  in  the  service  long  enough  to  have  full  expe- 
rience, but  not  worn  out  (opposed  to  a  fresh  raw  recruit) ; 
*  frontiers,'  the  front,  or  border  of  a  country  ;  '  retrograde,' 
going  backwards  instead  of  advancing,  contrasted  with  '  pro- 
gress ; '  '  variegated,'  marked  with  different  colours  ;  .*  reservoir,' 
a  place  where  water  is  stored,  to  be  run  off  when  wanted ; 
'  simulate,'  feign  or  pretend  to  be  something  that  we  are  not, 
with  a  view  to  deceive,  while  *  dissimulate '  is  to  conceal  what 
we  are  doing  for  the  same  end  ;  opposed  to  both  is  avowing 
openly  what  we  are  doing. 

For  this  class  of  words,  the  explanations  in  the  notes  to  the 
lesson,  should  be  careful  and  exact.  The  teacher  cannot  be 
expected  to  provide  offhand  definitions  that  will  hit  the  precise 
points ;  this  is  the  business  of  the  lesson  annotator  and  the 
dictionary  maker. 

7.  It  is  useful  to  reflect  upon  the  efficacy  of  the  regular  or 
systematic  lesson  in  giving  the  correct  meanings  of  words  in 
entire  groups.  For  example,  every  scientific  lesson  contains  a 
number  of  important  terms;  and  these  occur  in  correlated 
groups.  When  we  enter  upon  Geometry,  we  are  taught  to 
conceive  point,  line,  curve,  triangle,  square,  circle,  &c, — all  in 
connection  ;  the  agreements  and  contrasts,  and  the  regular 
sequence,  make  the  definitions  easy.  Parallelogram  or  poly- 
gon, occurring  as  a  passing  word  in  a  lesson,  is  explained,  if  at 
all,  at  a  great  disadvantage. 

The  same  effect  takes  place  in  other  instances.  Thus,  in 
a  lesson  on  a  ship,  many  strange  terms  have  to  be  brought  for- 
ward ;  and  the  quickest  way  of  arriving  at  their  meanings  is  to 
learn,  by  one  continuous  stroke  of  application,  all  that  relates 
to  the  ship. 

There  are  certain  crafts  or  industries  that,  from  being  more 
familiar  to  us  than  others,  are  oftener  quoted  and  referred  to, 
both  for  information,  and  for  figurative  allusions.  Such  are 
agriculture,  building,  navigation,  trading,  criminal  justice,  and, 


452  APPENDIX. 

perhaps  above  all,  military  operations.  These  have  each  theh 
peculiar  terms ;  we  gather  up  the  meanings  by  scattered  allu 
sions,  on  the  tentative  or  inductive  plan.  The  process  might 
be  shortened  by  a  few  compacted  lessons,  that  would  set  forth 
in  methodical  array  all  the  chief  parts  and  processes  in  each 
department,  with  the  appropriate  designations.  A  lesson  on  the 
military  art  would  be  very  taking  to  youth  of  ten  or  twelve;  and 
would  be  a  collateral  aid  to  tl>e  narratives  of  campaigns,  which 
are  so  largely  drawn  upon  in  reading  manuals. 

8.  Although  I  have  proposed  to  restrain  the  licence  of  pass- 
ing explanations,  by  an  indication  of  the  bounds  that  should 
be  set  to  it,  thereby  precluding  the  more  elaborate  and  thorough 
modes  of  defining,  I  may  still  be  permitted  to  remark,  that  the 
teacher  should  know  what,  in  the  last  resort,  thorough  defining 
is.  For  all  notions  that  are  ultimate  (as  equality,  succession, 
unity,  duration,  resistance,  pain,  &c.),  and  many  that  are  com- 
posite or  derivative,  there  is  no  definition  possible  except  the 
appeal  to  particulars  ;  which  brings  us  back,  after  a  long  round, 
to  what  was  said  as  to  the  mode  of  imparting  Abstract  Ideas. 
In  lessons  that  are  properly  and  strictly  knowledge  lessons,  the 
handling  of  particulars  for  this  great  end  needs  to  be  as  familiar 
as  household  words.  Although  its  sphere  is  in  the  leading 
terms  of  science  and  the  higher  knowledge,  yet  it  may  admit 
of  occasional  application  to  passing  terms  and  allusions.  The 
word  '  hallucination '  could  be  happily  explained  by  two  or 
three  examples,  real  or  supposed,  of  persons  suffering  under 
mental  delusion.  So  a  ceremony  could  be  illustrated  by  a  few 
select  instances.  As  these  explanations  necessarily  occupy 
time,  and  are  a  new  direction  to  the  pupils'  thoughts,  they 
should  be  either  given  at  the  beginning  of  a  lesson,  by  way  of 
essential  preparation,  or  be  held  as  matters  reserved,  the  lesson 
being  completed  by  help  of  a  mere  provisional  gloss. 

I  will  now  make  a  concluding  observation  as  to  the  composi 
tion  of  Reading  Lessons.     It  is  desirable  to  exclude  from  these 
lessons,  as  far  as  possible,  all  terms  that  cause  trouble  to  the 
tear  her  and  distraction  to  the  pupils.  If  a  learned  name  occurs, 


PASSING   EXPLANATIONS   OF   TERMS.  453 

intended  only  in  one  of  its  easier  meanings,  it  can  be  dispensed 
with.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  often  useful  to  make 
room  for  an  important  term  that  could  be  readily  understood 
in  its  setting,  with  a  little  assistance  from  the  notes  or  the 
teacher. 


p 


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